Wrestling with Zombies
by Venia Stark
Summary: It's the end of the world. Melissa thinks she's okay on her own, but when the Shield from WWE turns up, what will she do? Possible OC/Seth Rollins. Rated M for language and violence.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I only own Melissa! Anybody you recognize more than likely isn't mine! This is my first wrestling fan fiction. This idea has been going through my head for a while, so I figured I would put it out there and see what happened. I wasn't sure what to rate it, so I rated it M just in case. Just a note, it does start out with a lot of my OC, but there will be more of the wrestlers as it goes on. Promise. ;)**

-Melissa stopped in the doorway to a corner market, her heart pounding. She sighed in relief as the door came open when she pulled on the handle. "Guess they were open when the world ended," she muttered quietly. She moved quickly to the shelves, where there was still some food left. Some of it was already molding, but she was just glad other scavengers like her hadn't gotten to it first.

She started shoving the less perishable goods into the backpack she'd brought with her. She shoved them in indiscriminately; food was food. She then went to the back where the fridges were, opening them to grab some of the water bottles. It felt weird to not feel the cold air being pumped through the fridge. "Why wouldn't the power have gone out?" she muttered. "It's the fucking zombie apocalypse. People have better things to do than to keep the power on."

Melissa finished her scavenging. She started to head for the door, but as she reached for the handle, she heard a noise on the street. Her heart, which had just calmed down from dashing through the streets, started pounding again. She peeked through the grimy window. She blinked in surprise as she saw a car come to a puttering stop about a block down the street. "What the hell?" she mumbled. The car doors opened and she was even more shocked at who got out of the car. She rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was seeing things. She was almost positive it was the Shield.

After deciding that she wasn't hallucinating, Melissa slowly pushed the door open, slipping outside to hide behind a stopped car in front of the corner market. She quickly dodged to hide behind another car, slowly moving closer to her hiding place where she was staying. At the same time, she was trying to puzzle out why the Shield, a faction from WWE, was doing in her hometown. She pressed her back up against the car, peeking through the car windows to the one across the street.

Melissa slowly breathed in, trying to figure out what to do when she heard one of them speak. "Why did the car have to stop here?" he muttered. She wasn't sure, but she thought that it was Roman Reigns. She heard a boot connect with one of the doors, causing a loud thud to echo down the street.

"Damn it Roman, are you trying to get us killed?" she heard someone else ask.

In response, a zombie appeared a few blocks down the road. Melissa started shaking. She always tried to make sure that she wasn't caught out on the street when the zombies were out.

"Shit," she heard Reigns mutter.

Melissa peeked through the windows again, trying to see what the trio would do. Seth Rollins looked like he was starting to grab some stuff out of the back of the car. "Leave it," she heard, and then saw that it was Dean Ambrose. "We can come back for it later."

"Someone could take it between now and then," Rollins reasoned.

"Well, fuck that. I'd rather save my skin than the food," Ambrose spat. "Come on, we need to find someplace to hide."

Melissa ducked back down, hoping that they didn't find her place. She shivered as another zombie appeared next to the other one from before. She peeked back through the windows, watching as the Shield moved in the opposite direction down the street.

She waited until she was sure they had their backs to her. She quickly ran across the street and stopped in an alleyway between two buildings, praying that the zombies and the Shield hadn't seen her. She peered around the corner of the building, watching as the two zombies slowly shuffled down the street; they apparently hadn't seen her. "Zombies, check," she murmured. She looked again, and saw that the Shield was hastily making their way down the road, away from the two zombies. Just as they reached the end of the block, a large group of zombies appeared from the other end of the street, in the direction that the Shield was headed.

"Shit, turn around," she heard echo faintly down the street. The Shield turned around, coming back towards her. Melissa realized she should have been gone long ago, but she was nervous to see what happened. As the Shield started back down the street, Melissa could start to make out their faces better. So she knew to look back at the other two zombies when a look of panic appeared on the trio's faces.

She gulped. It was no longer just two zombies. More had come flocking in. The Shield was trapped in between the two groups.

**A/N: I appreciate any and all reviews! Let me know what you think, even if you think it's utter garbage. (If you do say that though, I would like it if you told me why you think that.) Anyways, thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for all the views/follows/favorites! It means a lot to me. :)**

Melissa tried to get her feet to move, but she was frozen in fear and morbid fascination. All the side streets were blocked off, and the main street was obviously blocked by the groups of zombies, which oddly hadn't spotted the trio yet.

She knew it wouldn't be long though. She also knew there were no really defendable positions on the street. She'd looked for a place closer to the market, but the street was mostly businesses with wide paned windows and little in the way of blocking them off from zombies. Her heart in her throat, she looked back at the street. The zombies weren't even near her alley, but if she was to… She felt like puking. She didn't want to risk her skin and play hero, but if she didn't get the Shield down the alley soon, they were going to be torn apart in the streets. She took a deep breath. If she left now, she more than likely would get away and be fine. She looked once more. If she tried to help them, she probably would end up dead… or worse. She started to head down the alleyway, away from the street when she turned back. "Damn me and my urge to play hero," she muttered. She reluctantly removed the screwdriver she was using as a weapon from its strap on her backpack. She stepped out of the alley, trying not to puke in fear. That's when the zombies realized that dinner was waiting in the middle of the street. Melissa hesitated a moment as the zombies picked up speed. "Over here!" she shouted to the Shield, waving her arms.

It took a moment for the trio to realize where her voice was coming from, but as soon as they spotted her a small bit of relief showed on their faces.

"Go, go!" Ambrose told the other two as he started running towards Melissa. Melissa waited for a moment before scrambling down the alley, heading for the wall at the other end. She vaguely heard the three men following her as she scrambled up the pile of junk that she used as stairs to get over the wall. She jumped down onto the street on the other side, turning to watch Ambrose, Rollins, and Reigns come over the wall behind her.

Melissa already heard the zombies moving around in the alley. She didn't know whether zombies could use the junk to get over the wall, but she certainly wasn't going to wait around to find out. "This way," she murmured, slowly jogging down the street. She didn't wait to see if they'd follow her. _Either they will or they won't_, she thought to herself. _Not my problem_. She quickly ran through the intersection, sighing in relief as she spotted her hiding place across the street.

She almost screamed in fright as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She relaxed just slightly after realizing it was Seth Rollins and not a zombie. "Are we almost there?" he asked her. She nodded, pointing across the street to the church she'd been hiding out in.

"Home sweet home," she muttered. She looked both ways, more in habit than anything, checking for zombies. She ran across the street. She hopped the small white picket fence, heading around the church. She reached the back door and opened the door a crack. It hit the pew she had pushed up against it. She turned around to address the three men who were waiting silently behind her. "I've got to move one of the pews," she told them. "Don't worry, I'm not just going to leave you sitting out here," she said with a nervous laugh.

Seth Rollins motioned for her to go ahead. She squeezed inside, her backpack almost catching on the doorframe. She set the backpack down on one of the other pews. She glared at the pew. It had taken her hours to maneuver the thing into place and have it where it blocked the door but still allowed her to get in and out. She sighed softly and started pushing on the pew, trying to widen the space between it and the door. After a few moments, she finally got it to move enough to open the door a bit more. She wiped her brow, frowning slightly when she noticed the small effort already had her sweating.

Ignoring it for now, she went back to the door, opening it and ushering the trio inside. As soon as they were, she shut the door, bolting it shut and sealing them all inside.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry if this one is really long. I just couldn't find a good spot to end it, so I let it go until I found one. **

**LadyEvil21: Thanks for the review. :) And it's good to know my cliffhanger-ish ending to chapter 2 worked.**

Melissa turned around to find them surveying the ill-lit interior of the church. She suddenly felt a wave of nervousness. She'd just let three large men into her hiding place, and if they were of the mind, her being a fan wouldn't stop them from doing what they wanted.

Melissa reluctantly sat down on one of the pews, next to her backpack, feeling awkward. Even before the world went to hell, she had been extremely uncomfortable meeting new people. She fingered at a strap on her backpack, blinking as she realized she still had a death grip on the screwdriver. She loosened her grip on it, strapping it back onto the backpack. She was so engrossed in this task that she almost didn't notice when Seth Rollins approached her. She looked up as he held his hand out. "Thanks for saving us back there," he said. "I'm Seth Rollins."

Melissa shook his hand. "I'm Melissa," she murmured as she dropped her hands to her sides.

"That's Dean Ambrose," he said, pointing out the man who was leaning against one of the pews. He nodded in greeting but remained silent. Roman Reigns did the same thing when he was introduced. Melissa almost pointed out that she knew who they all were, but remained silent.

"Sooo…" Melissa started, drawing out the word. "You're not from around here."

Seth shook his head. "We're just passing through."

"Until the damned car gave out," Roman Reigns said, speaking up for the first time.

"It didn't give out," Dean Ambrose corrected him. "It ran out of gas."

"Doesn't matter," Reigns said with a shrug. "We're still stuck."

Seth rolled his eyes. "Anyway," he said, turning back to Melissa. "Do you know where we can get some gas for the car?"

"There's plenty in all of the other cars out there," she said, waving her arms in the general direction of the street. "There might be some at the gas station, but I think everyone went there and got it out before the power went down." She shrugged. "We can't find out until everything calms down out there anyway."

"You don't think they followed us?" Dean Ambrose said, looking over at her.

Melissa shrugged, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze. "They usually don't follow unless they see or hear you. They'll calm down eventually. They were all gone to the other end of town before you got here. They'll probably go back. I think there are more people over there."

As if in answer, a gunshot sounded from the other half of town. Melissa winced.

The three men ignored the sound. Ambrose started talking quietly to Reigns. Melissa, feeling awkward again, grabbed her backpack and headed towards the small office that was situated by the boarded-off front doors where she was staying. She pushed the door open, sighing in relief as she saw that none of her stuff had been taken. She was always worried that someone would come in and steal from her food and water stash while she was out scavenging.

She had barely set her backpack down on her sleeping bag when she heard someone speak behind her. "So how long have you been hiding out in here?"

Melissa, her heart pounding like mad again, turned around to find Seth Rollins leaning against the door frame. "Do you always move so quietly?" she accused before she started to unpack the food she'd gotten from the corner market. She didn't give him time to answer as she answered his question. "I've been here since it all started, so probably… a week and a half. There were more people originally, but they all left a few days ago. Said they were headed to LA."

"Why LA?" Rollins asked conversationally as he watched her unpack.

"The radio was saying it was a safe zone, that there would be food and water and safety and stuff." Melissa shrugged.

"Why didn't you go?" he asked. Melissa didn't look up. She wondered why he seemed so interested in her past.

She answered anyway. "I've watched the Walking Dead. The cities go to hell the fastest," she muttered with a bitter laugh. "I figured I'd rather try my luck in a small town. So far it's worked out alright." She wanted to cry as she remembered saying good-bye to her family, who had gone with the rest to LA. She'd begged for them to stay, and they'd begged for her to go with them. In the end, she'd stayed, and they had gone. It ate at her, not knowing how they were doing, not knowing if they were dead or not. Or… no, she refused to think about it.

Rollins, oblivious to her inner turmoil, moved closer, slowly sinking down into the chair that she had shoved into the corner of the room. "So what made you decide to save us today?" he asked her, leaning back in the chair.

Melissa twirled one of the backpack straps between her fingers, looking down at the contents of her backpack. "I couldn't just leave you to die," she mumbled. "I'd do the same thing for anyone else." That was probably a lie; she just wasn't sure. She pulled some of the squished chip bags out of her backpack, putting them under the table with the rest of her food. Some instinct told her that she shouldn't let others see where she was keeping her food, but she felt like she could trust Seth Rollins, at least more than Dean Ambrose or Roman Reigns.

Seth Rollins spoke up again. "So do you think you could help us out while we're here?" he asked. "You obviously know your way around."

Melissa considered it. She didn't like leaving the church if she didn't have to, but if she helped the trio, they'd be on their way faster and she'd be able to go back to only taking care of her. The thought of being alone again brought a pang of sadness, but she ignored it. She knew it was probably for the best. "I suppose I could," she said after a little.

Seth looked relieved. "Thanks," he said.

"No problem," Melissa murmured.

"How long do you think we should wait before going back to the car?" he asked her. "We've never stayed in a place long enough to be cornered by them before."

Melissa almost commented that he was lucky then, but instead she just shrugged. "It should be safe in a little while, if the sun doesn't go down before then. I won't go out after dark," she told him. "They'll see any lights if we try to use them, and I don't fancy bumping around in the dark. I'd probably walk right into one of the zombies or I'd break my leg. Neither are options I'm interested in," Melissa surprised herself by saying. Usually she wasn't so assertive.

"Okay, whatever you say," Seth said with a shrug.

Melissa had just finished packing away her food when she heard a throat being cleared. She looked up and found Roman Reigns in the doorway. He glanced at Melissa and then looked at Seth. "Dean says he's ready to go back out."

Seth nodded and turned to face Melissa. "Are you willing to go out there with us?" he asked her.

"I said I would, remember?" she murmured with a weak smile. Her stomach was already trying to rebel in fear. She didn't want to go back out, not really.

"Let's go then," Seth said, standing up. Melissa stood up as well. She followed the two men back out into the main part of the church.

Dean had already moved the pew out of the way and unbolted the door. Echoing Seth's words from only a moment ago, he said, "Let's go," before opening the door.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I guess long is the new short. LOL. This one came out pretty long too. **

**LadyEvil21: Thanks for the review! :) It really helps me want to keep going with this!**

Melissa had already grabbed her screwdriver, ready for any zombie that might be waiting outside. Luckily there was nothing and she breathed a sigh of relief. She wished Dean had given her some warning before throwing the door open.

She followed the trio out before reaching behind her to close the church door. Dean signaled for her to lead, and she silently led them back to the front of the church. She peered down the street. There was only zombie, and it was several blocks down the street. If they were careful, they could get back across the street without a problem. She pointed to the zombie with her screwdriver in case the three men hadn't seen it. They nodded, catching onto her warning to stay quiet.

Melissa jumped the small picket fence before dashing across the street and stopping behind one of the cars parked haphazardly on the curb. She peeked back down the street at the lone zombie as the Shield joined her. The zombie was actually wandering in the other direction.

_So far so good,_ she told herself. Her hands were already a tad shaky. She hated this…this feeling of being hunted, of being prey. She shook her head to try and clear it. It wouldn't help her to be thinking negatively.

"You alright?" she heard Roman whisper.

She nodded with a swallow, not realizing her fear had shown on her face. She started down the street towards the alleyway. She briefly paused at the street intersection before continuing on towards the wall.

She scrambled up and over the wall and dropped down, glad the other side was clear.

Dean pushed by her, clearly knowing his way from here. Melissa was all too happy to let someone else do the leading; it was absolutely eating at her nerves. Dean stopped at the entrance of the alley to check the street. He motioned for them to follow him as he stepped into the street. Melissa followed Seth and Roman, feeling wary. It was then she realized that the sun was slowly, painfully, making its way down the horizon.

"We need to hurry," she hissed. Seth looked up at her words, glancing at the sky. He nodded to reassure her that he remembered their conversation from earlier. He joined Dean by the trunk of the car.

Melissa followed, her gaze roaming the street. She peered into the trunk and had to refrain from whistling in surprise. They had almost all a survivor could hope for packed into the car; there was plenty of food, water, batteries, blankets, and other various bits of survival gear. She pointed to the large pile of baseball bats that took up part of the trunk. "What'd you do, rob a Sports Authority?"

"Maybe," Dean said with a smirk on his face. "What, you gonna turn me in?"

Melissa just rolled her eyes. "So what's the plan? Move stuff to the church until you get the car running again? Or are you going to get the car ready to go right now?"

Dean looked at Seth and Roman. "What do you guys want to do?"

Seth thought about it a moment before replying. "I think we should move everything to the church first. That way we have more time to figure out what to do about the car."

Roman shook his head. "It doesn't make sense to move everything when we can just get the car going again. All we need is gas, right?"

Melissa looked down at the ground while the three men were talking. She frowned as she saw a trail of liquid splatters leading down the street. She spoke up. "Um, just out of curiosity, which direction did you come into town from?"

Dean pointed in the direction of splatters. "That way. Why?"

"I don't think that car's going anywhere."

Dean frowned. "Why not?"

Melissa knelt by the splatters, carefully dipping her fingers in it. She sniffed it, catching the smell of fuel. She wiped her fingers on her pants as she stood up. "I'm no mechanic, but I think you have a faulty fuel line. My dad's truck had that once. It's practically dumping out all of the gasoline before you use it. It has to be replaced if you want to use that car. And I don't think mechanics had the consideration to stay open when the world ended."

"Shit." Dean nearly slammed his hand down on the car, but Roman reached out and stopped it about an inch from the car.

"Remember what happened last time one of us hit the car?" he said with a weak smile.

Dean dropped his hand to his side with a small shiver. "Well, I guess that makes my vote automatic. I say we should set up shop in the church while we figure out what the hell to do about the car."

"Do you have anything to carry all the stuff in?" Melissa asked, feeling jittery as the sun edged further down the horizon.

"There's some backpacks in the back seat," Dean told her. "Roman, why don't you get those?" Dean started sorting through the stuff in the trunk as the Samoan went and got the backpacks.

Seth started helping Dean sort what they felt was most necessary to take.

Melissa glanced at the trunk again. "We're never going to get that all in one go," she said.

Dean looked at her with a sort of "no kidding" expression on his face.

Seth spoke up, interrupting what looked to be a pending argument. "We can try though." He started packing stuff into the backpacks as soon as Roman brought them over.

"Can I help at all?" Melissa asked, feeling a bit useless.

Dean pushed an already full backpack towards her. "Carry that. And keep watch for any danger."

Melissa put the backpack on, almost tipping over because of the weight. "Jeez, how much stuff did you shove in here?" she asked as she turned back to watch the street, not really expecting an answer.

The trio soon had crammed more stuff into three more backpacks. Seth and Roman put theirs on as Dean quietly shut the trunk.

Melissa continued to watch the street, starting to have to squint in the dying light. "Are we ready to go back?" she asked.

Dean nodded. "We can come get the rest of the stuff tomorrow," he said as he swung his backpack up onto his shoulders.

Seth and Roman started heading back towards the alley. Dean followed, with Melissa trailing in the back.

The trio entered the alley as Melissa passed by the gym that sat on the corner. As she did, the glass of the window shattered outward. Melissa threw her arms up, trying to protect her face from the breaking glass. That's when a zombie came barreling out of the window right in front of her.

Melissa found herself frozen in fear as it came at her. All rational thoughts fled as she let out a blood-curdling scream. There was no way the any member of the Shield could turn around in the alley and get back to her in time, and her hand holding the screwdriver hung useless at her side.

Right as the zombie's hands grasped at her shirt, a crossbow bolt plunged through its head, the tip sticking out. The blood sprayed all over Melissa, which caused her to whimper softly.

The zombie fell forward, obviously dead for good this time. Melissa jumped backwards as it hit the ground with a loud thud.

Seth popped out from the alley first, grabbing Melissa from behind, spinning her around to face him. "Are you alright?" he asked, and then repeated the question when she didn't immediately answer.

She nodded slightly as Dean and Roman came back onto the street. She turned back to the direction that the crossbow bolt had come from to see her savior walking down the street, crossbow in hand. That's when Dean growled out to the approaching man, "What are _you _doing here?"


	5. Chapter 5

The man stopped where he stood, resting the crossbow across his shoulder. "I could ask you the same thing."

Melissa wanted to rub her eyes in shock like she had earlier, to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but she was afraid of rubbing the zombie blood in.

"I asked you first," Dean told him belligerently.

"Um, hate to interrupt the little reunion here," Melissa stuttered, "but I don't think we should still be standing around here. My screaming probably is going to draw some more zombies in."

Dean looked down at her. "Why _did_ you scream?" he asked her. He obviously hadn't seen the zombie hit the ground.

"She was attacked by a zombie," the unnamed man commented. "I shot it."

"I didn't ask you," Dean muttered.

The man who had saved Melissa took a step forward.

The Shield reacted automatically, forming a sort of defensive triangle. Melissa was somehow shoved behind Seth. Roman spoke. "Stay where you are, Orton."

Melissa almost grinned as she realized her suspicions were correct; it had been Randy Orton who had saved her. She peeked around Seth to see that Randy had once again stopped.

"I was just going to check that she hadn't been bitten or scratched," he said, the crossbow now hanging down by his leg.

"I haven't," Melissa piped up. "It only grabbed my shirt. It didn't get to my skin. Though I would like to clean my face; it got blood all over me."

"See, she's fine," Seth said.

Randy looked ready to argue some more, but he simply said, "The girl was right when she said that we should leave this for another time." He pointed with his crossbow down the street, where several zombies were wandering around the corner.

"Let's go," Dean muttered, signaling for Melissa to head down the alley. She started down the alley, hearing the Shield follow her.

As she started up and over the wall, she saw Randy Orton following. Unfortunately, so did Dean. "Go away Orton."

Orton shook his head. "I'm going wherever the hell you're going."

Melissa could almost feel the zombies getting closer. "Now is not the time!" she yelled. "Just let him come!"

Orton had a smug grin on his face as he pushed past the Shield, following Melissa over the wall.

Melissa watched as Seth and Dean came up and over the wall. She saw Roman start to come over. All of a sudden he was pulled backwards, back down into the alley.

"Roman!" Seth screamed, leaping forward to grab ahold of the other man's hands. Dean, after hesitating, probably from shock, did so as well.

Randy moved forward, his crossbow in hand. He jumped to the top of the wall, and fired off one of the bolts, probably shooting at the zombies that had followed them into the alley.

Melissa dropped the heavy backpack she was wearing, joining Dean and Seth as they tried to drag Roman over the wall. She ignored the fact that there were zombies swarming down below. Eventually, with the effort of three people pulling, Roman was dragged over the wall down to the street, where he collapsed, breathing heavily.

Randy jumped down from the wall. "Now is not the time to be catching your breath," he warned. "It won't be long before they're over the wall."

Dean and Seth helped Roman to his feet. "Are you alright?" Melissa asked him. Underneath her question lay another question, the one they were all wondering; had he been bitten?

Roman smiled weakly, his normally tan face pale. "Thank goodness for riot gear, right?" He lifted his torn pant leg, showing undamaged skin.

"Come on then," Orton said, taking control. "We need to find someplace to hide. Quickly."

Dean signaled for Melissa to lead the way back to the church. "Orton, watch our backs," he said. "That crossbow will come in handy if the zombies make it over the wall."

Randy shrugged. "I doubt it'll make a dent on those numbers."

Melissa started heading down the street, picking up her backpack and screwdriver. In the dying light, the usually safe-looking street frightened her. She picked up her pace, constantly looking over her shoulder to make sure everyone was following and that no zombies had come over the wall. She made the mistake of forgetting to check the street as she crossed it.

The lone zombie from earlier had wandered down the street and had spotted her. It roared incomprehensibly before charging her. The weight knocked her to the ground, the zombie landing on top of her. All she could think of was that it smelled and looked _awful_.

The thoughts fled her mind as it lunged at her, spittle falling onto her shirt. She reacted instinctively, her left hand, which held the screwdriver, coming upward. She shoved the screwdriver into the zombie's eye socket, wincing as it made a squelching sound as it sunk in. Blood spurted outward, once again spraying all over her. She almost relaxed, thinking it was dead for good until it lunged again, its mouth wide open. She rolled away with a scream, watching as it hit the pavement. She brought the screwdriver down, stabbing it several times, hoping she hit the brain.

It didn't get up again. She didn't realize she was crying until Seth knelt beside her, wiping away a tear. "Come on, we need to keep moving." She let him help her to her feet. Roman was looking at her with sympathy.

"Today is not your day, is it?" Randy joked slightly.

Dean glared at him, obviously still wanting him to leave. He turned away to follow Melissa and Seth, who had started down the road. Roman silently followed Dean, and after a moment's pause, Randy did as well.

Melissa shuddered in relief as the church came into sight through her blurry, tear-filled vision. She dashed the last few feet, jumping the picket fence. She made her way to the back door, opening it quickly. She waited until everyone was inside before closing the door, sinking down with her back to it.

She barely noticed when Seth came to stand by her. "Melissa, are you alright?" he asked. She didn't answer. "Melissa?" he repeated. Melissa looked up, trying to focus in the dark church. She went to answer, but her voice caught in her throat. She blinked, her vision going black around the edges. "I…I…" was all she could manage to say before she passed out.


	6. Chapter 6

"Do you think she's alright?" Melissa heard a voice say. She was positive it was Seth.

"She'll be fine Seth," she heard Dean say. She thought he was probably rolling his eyes.

Melissa couldn't tell, but she thought she might be laying on one of the pews. She stared at the darkness of her eyelids, wondering what had happened. She remembered making it into the church, but the rest was a blur. She shifted one of her legs, trying to find a more comfortable position. The pew creaked as she did so, alerting the four men that she was awake.

She opened her eyes to see Seth outlined against the darkness of the rest of the church.

"Are you alright Melissa?" he asked her.

Melissa sat up, blinking at the utter darkness in the church. "What happened?" she asked. "I…" she paused, not sure what to say next.

"You passed out," she heard Randy say bluntly from behind her. "Any reason why?"

Melissa thought back to the scene on the street, how she had killed the zombie. "I…I…I've never…" She started shaking as she spoke. "I've never killed one before."

"What, one of the zombies?" Dean asked.

Melissa nodded, and then realized Dean probably couldn't see her. "Yeah," she murmured.

"You or him," Dean reasoned.

"I know, but it still doesn't change the fact…the fact that I killed him." She choked out the last bit. "I was prepared to do it, but… I didn't want to, not really." She felt weak for admitting that, but she knew it was the truth.

"It would have happened eventually," Randy told her. "Better sooner rather than later."

Melissa shrugged uncomfortably. "How long was I out?"

Seth spoke up from beside her. He had somehow managed to sit down on the pew without making it creak. "Well, we don't exactly have a clock, but I would say no more than an hour."

"And you've all been sitting around in the dark since then?" Melissa queried.

"Light switch doesn't work, remember?" Dean commented caustically.

Melissa rolled her eyes. "I have a few Coleman lanterns on the piano."

"Wouldn't the zombies see the light from the street?" Randy asked.

"They might. The windows are boarded up and have some blankets over them. I haven't really had a problem, because they're usually not over here at night," Melissa told him.

"Well, they're swarming around the place tonight," Randy commented. "So I think we should keep risking bumping around without the lights."

"They are?" Melissa asked with a slight tremor in her voice.

"Yeah. Dozens of them. They must have finally made it over the wall," Dean informed her. "And for once I agree with Randy. It's safer to just leave the lights out for now."

"Wait, I thought that was just an on-screen feud?" Melissa said, finally bringing up the animosity the two had shown towards each other.

"Hang on a minute; you've known the whole time who we are?" Seth asked her.

Melissa blushed, and decided she was glad it was dark. She twirled a strand of her brown curly hair around one finger. "Umm, yeah…"

"And here I was making introductions," Seth muttered. Melissa thought he might be rolling his eyes.

Randy snorted, and a soft chuckle came from where Melissa supposed Roman was sitting.

"I thought it would be awkward or something. And I might have been wrong that it was you," she told him. "And I don't really think celebrity status counts for anything in the apocalypse."

Dean laughed slightly. "She's got a point Seth. I don't think it really matters too much at this point." He then addressed Melissa. "And yes, it was mostly a TV feud. But it's partly based on my…" he paused, as if searching for the right words. "...my and Randy's, ah, feelings for each other."

"In other words, they hate each other's guts," Seth said.

"Oh don't pretend like you're best buddies with me either, Rollins," Randy said. "I'm outta here as soon as it's clear. Less time I have to spend with you three the better."

"Good riddance," Dean muttered.

"What about me?" Melissa joked lightly. In all honesty, she didn't really want someone to just go out by themselves. It felt like a death sentence.

"Melissa, right?" Randy said. "I'm sure you'd be nice enough company, but I'm not too interested in staying in one place too long, and you look like you're planning to hunker down here for a long while. And I don't intend to stay, and I'm sure the Shield feels the same way."

Melissa's heart rate picked up. She hadn't realized it, but she had missed human company. She didn't want anyone to leave; she didn't want to be alone again.

"We're leaving as soon as we figure out what to do about the car situation," Dean confirmed. "In the meantime, I want to sleep."

"Someone should keep watch," Roman suggested.

"We can split it up between all of us," Seth said. "I'll take the first watch. I'll wake Dean up after that. Melissa will be next, after her will be Randy, and Roman will be last. Hey, Roman, do you still have your wristwatch? And does it work if you do?"

A small greenish glow lit up Roman's face as he pressed one of the buttons on the watch to light up the face. "Yeah."

"What time is it now?" Melissa asked curiously. Time had been meaningless to her since the apocalypse began.

"Nine o'clock," Roman answered.

"We can each take two hour shifts and be up at 7," Seth said. "Roman, I'm gonna need the watch. Otherwise, I'm not going to know when to wake Dean up."

"I'm okay with that," Dean said with a small laugh.

"I doubt you'd be if he woke you up early," Melissa pointed out.

"True. Hey Seth, where'd you put the sleeping bags we brought in?"

"Over by the door."

Melissa heard Dean stand up and curse as he bumped into one of the pews. "Does anyone have a light that we can use so we don't break our legs but don't alert the zombies?" he asked.

Suddenly a small light turned on, causing everyone to wince at the small bit of brightness after sitting in the dark.

Melissa looked at Randy, who was holding the light. It came from an iPhone that he held in his hand. "You still have an iPhone?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, it's no good for calling anymore, but the flashlight app works wonders."

"No kidding," she said with a laugh. "We should probably try and get everything done quickly to save the battery."

The Shield was already in motion, moving around the church to get everything situated. Dean started laying down the sleeping bags in front of the rows of pews while Seth got the watch from Roman and picked a spot he liked for keeping watch by the back door.

Randy stood watching impassively before sitting down on a pew.

Melissa looked at him curiously. She had seen him with a backpack earlier, but it didn't look like he had any sort of bedding or sleeping bag. "Are you going to sleep there?" she asked, pointing at the pew. Your back will ache like hell in the morning."

"I don't exactly have anything better," Randy told her caustically.

"I have a spare sleeping bag you could use," Melissa offered.

Randy's eyes narrowed. Melissa thought he might be surprised by her offering it up for nothing in return. "I'll take it if you're not using it."

Melissa nodded and made her way back to the office, wincing as she bumped into the desk. She searched around in the dark, finally locating the sleeping bag. She brought it back to Randy, who nodded in thanks before laying it down on the floor in between the pews.

Melissa murmured a "good night" to everyone and made her way back to the office before lying down on top of her own sleeping bag. She stared at the ceiling for a little before she heard Randy ask, "Everyone good?" After a few moments Randy turned the iPhone light off, plunging the church into darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for all the views/favorites/follows! I don't know if I've mentioned it, but it really helps keep me going when I get stuck. :)**

**miss-bexie: Thanks! It means a lot to me for you to say that. :)**

Melissa rolled over with a grumble as she felt someone shaking her shoulder. Suddenly the person jabbed her in the side with a finger. "Hey!" she protested, sitting up.

"Hey, yourself," the person said as the iPhone light flickered on to reveal Dean. "You're impossible to wake up. It's your turn for watch."

"Oh… sorry," Melissa murmured. She slowly got to her feet, yawning widely as she rubbed her eyes.

She saw Dean shrug as he led her out back into the church proper. She followed him to the door and sat down on the chair Seth had dragged over earlier. She made a sound of surprise as Dean sat on the pew across from her. "Aren't you going to sleep?" she asked him.

"I'm not really tired," Dean commented. "Might as well stay up and make sure you don't fall asleep." His blue eyes glinted for a moment in the light of the iPhone before he turned it off and handed it to her.

"I don't need a babysitter," Melissa muttered.

"Who said anything about babysitting?" Dean said with a small laugh.

Melissa didn't respond to his words. She leaned back in the chair, slowly spinning the iPhone in her hands. She gazed into the dark church, wishing her vision would adjust to the darkness faster so she could at least see the outline of Dean.

They sat there in silence for a little before Melissa spoke. "I never found out, but what are you doing here?"

"Here? I don't think anyone knows the answer to that."

Melissa wanted to slap him for the sarcastic answer. "Not like that. I just meant what are you doing here in my hometown?"

She could hear the pew Dean was sitting on creak as he shifted his position. "We're just passing through. Another town, just like all the others on the road. Only difference is we got stuck here."

"Where were you headed before you got stuck here?" she asked curiously.

"Los Angeles," Dean replied.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Melissa asked, wincing as she thought of her family again.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Dean queried, leaning forward into a small beam of moonlight seeping in around the edge of the doorframe.

"There are a lot of reasons that the big cities are more dangerous than the small towns," Melissa reasoned. "One: There aren't as many people in small towns, which equals fewer zombies. Two: More people means there's less food and water…"

Dean interrupted her. His eyes were narrowed as he said, "It almost sounds as though you're trying to convince us to stay."

Melissa blushed as she realized that's what she had unintentionally started to do. "Maybe."

Dean leaned back into the pew. Melissa could barely see that he had his arms crossed behind his head. "Sorry, but I don't think that's an option for us," he said, speaking of the Shield. "Maybe it's just a leftover habit from our jobs, or maybe it's some survival instinct, but we feel that's it's best to keep moving."

"Oh," Melissa murmured, not sure how to respond.

"What about you? You ever going to leave?" he asked her, his blue eyes now visible in the small bit of moonlight that let Melissa see in the dark church.

Melissa shook her head and said, "I hadn't planned on it. Unless a whole bunch of zombies come flooding in, I'm safe as I can be in the apocalypse, and that's all I can ask for."

"What would you do if a bunch of them did show up?" Dean asked curiously.

"I don't know," Melissa said, a note of exasperation in her voice. "I figured it was one of those things that I would deal with if it came down to it."

"That may have worked before, but let me give you a piece of advice Melissa." His voice, to Melissa's ears, sounded dangerous. "It doesn't work now. You need to be prepared to deal with it before it gets here, or you'll end up dead. Or worse."

"You think I don't know that?" Melissa choked out, her eyes starting to tear up. She'd never done well with being talked down to. "I just want to feel safe, even if it is only for a little while."

"There is no such thing as safe anymore," Dean said harshly. "It's just the way it is." He abruptly stood up, stalking over to where he had been sleeping earlier, leaving Melissa to herself.

Melissa sat in the chair, staring at her hands, which were folded around the iPhone. She shuddered, wishing, not for the first time, that she would wake up in her bed at home and find out this was all a bad dream. She wished her family was still here. She sighed as she realized she was indulging in wishful thinking—something that really wasn't a good idea anymore.

Her tears were still falling gently on her hands when she heard someone sit down on the pew across from her. She didn't look up, still gazing at her hands. The person cleared their throat. "Melissa?"

She looked up to see Seth sitting there. "What?" she mumbled.

"I…heard you and Dean talking," he told her. She saw him run a hand through his two-toned hair. Melissa wondered for a moment how long it would last without it being redone.

She didn't say anything to him though. She closed her eyes with a sigh, trying to slow the tears.

"It's just the… stress getting to him," Seth finally said. "He's usually a bit more personable than this."

"Oh," Melissa mumbled. She heard Seth get up from the pew. She opened her eyes, thinking he had gone back to his sleeping bag. She was surprised to find him sitting on his knees in front of her.

He took her hands in his, causing her to loosen her death grip on the iPhone. "Melissa…" He hesitated for a moment before continuing. "You know we can't stay, but have you considered going with us?" he asked tentatively. "I would have to talk to Dean and Roman about it, obviously…" he started rushing through his words.

Melissa interrupted. "You know I don't want to go," she murmured.

Seth looked her in the eyes. "I know. But you can't stay here forever. Dean was right when he said it wouldn't be safe indefinitely. I'm not saying that you couldn't stay here for a while, but what if something happened? What if you couldn't take care of yourself and there's no one there to take care of you?"

Melissa stopped breathing for a moment and eventually breathed out. "I've thought about it. I just hoped it wouldn't come down to that," she said softly, her breath hitching in fear.

"If you came with us, you wouldn't have to worry about that," Seth murmured. "Who knows, maybe we can find your family somewhere along the way," he said cheerfully.

Melissa hesitated before responding. "I…I have to think about it. Give me a day or two."

Seth nodded as he stood up. "Two days then. I'll need some time to convince Roman and Dean, and I can't do that right as we're leaving."

Melissa murmured in agreement, watching as he made his way back to his sleeping bag. She gazed at the iPhone in her hands, a burning reminder of what had been. She wondered if she could leave the only home she knew to travel with men she hardly knew when she'd refused to do so with her family. The fear of being alone and the fear of the unknown nagged at her throughout her watch, and followed her as she went to wake Randy for his part of the watch. She finally collapsed on her sleeping bag, the exhaustion from earlier sending her into a deep sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry for posting it so late. I finally figured out where I wanted this story to go in the long run and a mean case of writer's block set in. So, sorry if it isn't all that great.**

** Monica: Thanks, and here's the update. :)**

** Pinayprincesa: Guess we'll just have to wait and see what she decides to do. ;)**

"Do you think we should…?"

Melissa woke up to the sound of muffled voices, and she panicked for a moment, thinking someone was invading her hiding spot when she remembered that the Shield and Randy Orton were in the church.

She sat up, yawning as she stretched. Her stomach growled, so she sleepily made her way over to her food stash, where she looked through what she had. Sighing, she picked up a granola bar, knowing it was probably all she could afford to eat for the day. She ate it slowly, trying to draw out the flavor. She was hoping it would trick her stomach into thinking it had gotten more food. It didn't work, so she hurriedly finished the granola bar off before getting up to leave the room.

Right as she reached for the door handle, it swung inward, revealing Seth. "You did it again," she teased.

A look of confusion passed across Seth's face. "What did I do?"

"You're sneaking around all quiet like," Melissa informed him. "At this rate you're going to give me a heart attack."

"Sorry," Seth said with a rueful grin.

"So what's up?" Melissa asked him. "Did I oversleep?" she said with a small laugh.

"We figured we should go get the rest of the stuff out of the car," Seth told her. "With Randy helping, we should be able to get it all in one go."

"Did the streets clear out?" Melissa asked curiously.

"Mostly. There's only a few wandering around," Seth said. "They shouldn't be too hard to take care of if they get in our way."

"Wish they were all gone," Melissa muttered as she pushed past him. She found Dean and Roman leaning up against the pew by the door, looking like they were ready to go.

"Where's Randy?" Melissa asked, noting the disappearance of Orton.

Dean looked up, his gaze meeting hers. "He went out to scout; make sure the street around the car is clear."

"Oh." Melissa felt like she'd been saying that a lot lately. Her eyes took in the sight of the baseball bats she assumed the three men were using as weapons.

"You ready to go?" Roman asked her.

Melissa nodded, catching a backpack when Dean tossed it to her.

"Let's go," Dean said, leading the way back out of the church. All four stopped at the picket fence, checking the street.

Roman took the lead as he hopped the fence. He gripped the baseball bat he had brought, his eyes roaming the streets.

Melissa followed Roman over, and Dean and Seth jumped over after her. "This is starting to feel like déjà vu," she muttered quietly.

Dean smirked, and Seth smiled a little.

Melissa let Roman lead them down the street, which was bathed in early morning sunshine. Melissa wished it would be gray and cloudy or something; it being sunny made it feel like everything was going to be fine, like the world as they knew it hadn't ended.

Melissa was lost in her thoughts, so didn't notice when Roman stopped. She ran straight into his back and stumbled backwards with an "Ouch."

Roman waved his hand at her, signaling for her to be quiet. He pointed towards the intersection where Melissa had killed the zombie the night before. The body was still there, but there were two more zombies milling around aimlessly.

"I'm really starting to hate that intersection," Melissa murmured.

Roman crept forward, motioning for Melissa to follow him to the left of the zombies while Dean and Seth crept towards the right.

"Are we going to kill them?" Melissa whispered.

Roman nodded. "We may need to get back through here in a hurry, and we don't want them in the way."

Melissa nodded before unclipping the screwdriver from her backpack. She eyed Roman's baseball bat and decided she'd be of better use staying out of the big man's way until she was needed.

She followed Roman until they were practically right on top of the zombie that they were targeting. Dean and Seth, meanwhile, had snuck up on their zombie and had started hitting it in the skull with their baseball bats.

Roman swung, and Melissa jumped backwards as the blood sprayed outward. Dean and Seth already had their zombie down, its head a bloody pulp.

Roman finished off the zombie without her help. Melissa looked down at the desiccated corpse and simply said, "That's disgusting."

Roman cracked a grin. "Come on," he said, once again taking the lead as Seth and Dean rejoined them.

Melissa followed them, and they made it to the alley wall without incident. _So far so good_, Melissa thought to herself.

Dean peeked over the wall. "It's clear," he murmured, before climbing over. Seth followed him. Roman hesitated before going over, clearly remembering how close he had come to dying there last night.

Melissa gently patted him on the back in reassurance. Roman shook his head as if to clear it, which caused his long dark locks to whip back and forth. He scrambled up over the wall, and Melissa followed him. She found Seth talking to Randy, who had apparently been waiting for them there. Dean was standing off to the side, looking bored.

Melissa hopped down to the ground. Randy glanced over as she did so. "Alright, that's everyone. We're going to have to be quick about this."

"Why?" Dean asked.

"There are zombies swarming around a street over. It wouldn't take them long to wander over."

"Why are we standing around talking then?" Dean asked. He strode out of the alley.

Seth and Roman hurried to follow him, with Randy and Melissa following a bit slower.

Melissa, out of habit, scanned the street before leaving the alley. She shuddered as she passed by the broken gym window. It felt like forever ago since Randy had saved her, but the feeling of terror still lingered. She joined the Shield by the trunk of their car.

"Give me your backpack," Dean ordered.

She handed the backpack over and stood watching the street as they quickly packed things up. "Déjà vu," Melissa muttered to herself.

"What was that?" Randy asked her.

"I can't shake the feeling that I've been here before; it practically feels like a repeat of yesterday," Melissa explained.

"Oh," was all Randy said.

"Melissa, could you come take one of these backpacks?" she heard Seth ask.

She turned back to the car, grabbing one of the backpacks. She peered into the trunk of the car, and was surprised to find they'd already finished cleaning it out. She slung one of the heavy packs onto her shoulders.

Roman closed the trunk of the car, careful to make sure it didn't slam down. "All done," he said, picking up a pack for himself.

Dean and Seth already had theirs on and were starting to head back down the street to the alley. Melissa waited for Randy as he put his on. Roman was already partway down the street as Randy and Melissa started walking.

Melissa was slowing a bit under the weight of the pack as they approached the gym where she'd been attacked yesterday. Randy was passing by the broken window when Melissa saw something move inside. She didn't even have time to warn Randy as a zombie came tumbling out the window, crashing into Randy. Randy and the zombie fell to the ground with a thud.

Melissa started to move to help when the sound of gunshot echoed down the street. Melissa slapped her hands to her ears, which were smarting at the loud sound. She watched in surprise as blood started leaking from a small bullet hole in the back of the zombie's head.

Randy shoved the now-dead zombie aside and joined Melissa as they looked back down the street to see who had used the gun and possibly saved Randy's life.

Melissa looked up at Randy. "I told you. Déjà vu."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I am incredibly sorry that this is so late! I've been really busy; I was on vacation for part of last week, and then I had a last minute scramble to get all of my schoolwork in on time for a class. Anyways, I think I'll probably be back on my schedule for posting this now.**

** Cookie D: Yup, another survivor! :)**

** RuinNyght: Thanks! :) Glad you enjoy it.**

Melissa stood next to Randy as the man approached. At this point, she was certain of who it was.

"Never expected to see you here Punk," Randy greeted.

"I could say the same about you," Punk said in return as he holstered the handgun he had used.

The Shield finally came back around the corner from the alley. "Punk?" Seth asked.

"Who else?" Punk said with a grin.

"Am I the only girl left in the whole apocalypse?!" Melissa asked no one in particular. "We couldn't have Kaitlyn or AJ or Natalya or someone turn up?"

Punk snorted. "I don't think you'd really want AJ to turn up, if she's even alive. She's…"

"Crazy?" Dean finished for him.

"That's a little hypocritical, coming from you," Punk said.

"I'm going to ignore that," Dean said.

Randy spoke up. "Crazy or not," his expression implied he thought Dean was, "We shouldn't stick around. Don't want a repeat of last night."

"What happened last night?" CM Punk asked curiously as Roman shivered.

"We'll explain later," Seth said. "Come with us."

"I'm going to end up with the whole frigging WWE locker room in my church, aren't I?" Melissa muttered, causing them to laugh outright. She took off down the alleyway, remembering Randy mentioning the zombies a street over. The gunshot would draw them in like flies, and there was no way she was sticking around for it. She'd had enough repeat events for what felt like a lifetime.

She scrambled over the wall, pondering her statement. What were so many WWE Superstars doing in her hometown anyways? And why was she letting them pile into her hiding place? "Because I'm a sucker for anyone who needs a place to stay, that's why," she muttered to herself. She stayed by the foot of the wall as the others came over, this time without any problems.

Everyone seemed just as relieved as she did. She took off down the street, her eyes scanning her surroundings.

"You have someplace safe to stay?" she heard CM Punk query.

"She's hiding out in a church nearby and she's letting us stay there," Seth murmured.

Melissa ignored the conversation. The last time she'd gotten distracted here it had almost cost her. She edged through the intersection quietly, trying not to fall into a false sense of security. _It's never safe anymore_, she thought in disgust.

She reached the church without any problems, and the men followed her in as she opened the door.

Punk whistled softly when he saw her hiding place. "Nice."

"I hardly did anything," Melissa said as she closed the door behind them. "I got lucky and was with a group who knew what they were doing."

"Where are they now?" Punk asked.

"I really don't want to talk about it," Melissa said, a bit more harshly than she intended.

"Okay," Punk shrugged. He turned to face the Shield. "So… you said you were going to explain what happened last night later. It's later."

Melissa left them to talk as she headed to the office. She sat down on her sleeping bag, her arms wrapped around her knees. With the addition of Punk to the growing group of wrestlers, she was starting to feel left out. _At least there are people to feel left out with_, she said, swallowing a bitter laugh. "There's always a silver lining," she muttered to herself.

She stared at the wall, thinking back to Seth's offer from last night. _He wants me to come with them, _she thought, a warm feeling spreading through her, which quickly was dampened by her next thought. _It's probably just pity making him offer though._ She sighed, wishing she would stop overthinking things.

She thought back to when her family left.

_"Melissa, you can't stay here by yourself," her mother told her._

_"Mom, you know what I know. Los Angeles is probably long gone by now!" Melissa had to refrain from yelling. "It's all a pipe dream! It always is!"_

_"You don't know that."_

_"Why would you leave someplace that a decent amount of safety? You know what it's like here; no one knows what it's like out there!" Melissa sobbed, waving her hands around her._

_"Melissa, we're going. The government says it's safe. Why would they lie?" her father interjected._

_"It may be safe now, but it may not stay that way Dad! The broadcasts already stopped two days ago," Melissa reminded him._

_"We have to try," her father simply said. _

_Melissa, finally realizing that there was no convincing her family, closed the distance between her and her father. "I don't want to lose you, Daddy," she sobbed as she hugged him. "But I don't want to go. It doesn't feel… I can't explain it. It just doesn't feel safe, or right, or I…"_

_"Shh," her father murmured into her hair, patting her on the back soothingly. "Who knows, maybe all of this will get better and we'll see each other again." He had come to terms with the fact that his daughter wasn't going with him._

That's a lie,_ Melissa's mind told her. She shoved the thought away as she hugged her father for the last time. She hugged her mother good bye, and lastly came to her younger brother, David. He had never been one for hugs, but she hugged him tightly anyways. "Stay safe," she murmured against his chest._

_They all got into the car they were taking. Melissa waved to them, trying to control the sobs. As they drove away she heard David call out, "See you soon!"_

Melissa was literally shaken out of her reverie. She found Seth sitting next to her, staring at her in concern. She blushed as she realized she'd been crying, and as she realized the others were also standing around her.

"…Melissa, what's wrong?" Randy asked her, his face puzzled, obviously unused to trying to comfort someone.

"I just…it's nothing," she muttered, rubbing her eyes angrily, trying to wipe away the tears.

As she did so, she didn't see Seth motion for the others to leave the room. She did hear them quietly close the door behind them though. She looked up, finding Seth's gaze.

"Melissa, it's not just nothing," he said softly.

"Why does it matter to you?" she muttered harshly.

Seth looked taken aback. "I…I guess I'm just trying to help." He sounded upset as he ran a hand through his hair. "I guess since all the people in this building only have each other, I'm…" he paused, the frustration obvious on his face as he tried to find the right words. "I'm trying to just… Fuck, I just want to help you!" he said in exasperation. "Is there anything wrong with that?"

"I still don't see why," Melissa mumbled. She was starting to feel bad as she slowly crawled back to reality, away from the bad memories.

"Everyone just needs to know that we can be there for each other, that we're willing to watch each other's backs. We can't do that if we keep secrets from each other, no matter how much they hurt. There are people who can lessen the load, help you out. We may not be the people you're looking for, but we are willing to help." Seth sat back, seeming satisfied at finally finding the right words.

Melissa looked up from staring at her knees. "Thanks," she managed to mumble.

"Hey, it's the least I can do considering you probably saved my life yesterday," Seth said as he stood up. He started to leave, but paused in the doorway. "Melissa… you know how we talked about you coming with us?" He ran a hand through his hair uncertainly. "I'm going to need an answer tonight. Dean and Roman said they want to leave tomorrow."

With that he left, leaving Melissa to herself. She lay back on her sleeping bag, tears still running down her face.


	10. Chapter 10

**LadyEvil21: I'm glad you liked that part. :) It's always something that I felt needed pointed out. XD And I'm glad I could clear up what happened with her family; I don't want any confusion.**

Melissa woke up, startled at the fact that she had fallen asleep. She stumbled over to the office window to peek through the boards covering it up. The street was clear and was bathed in bright sunlight. She guessed it was sometime around noon, so she hadn't slept too long.

She sighed as she sat down in a chair, wishing she could come to a decision. She briefly thought of her family again, but quickly moved on, not wanting to get caught up in the bad memories again. _Could I make it on my own?_ She thought to herself. Her mind automatically seemed to come up with the worst case scenario— the one Seth had presented her with last night. The thought of being alone and injured… she shuddered. The thought of dying slowly, of thirst, of hunger, of cold, or being bitten by one of the zombies… It made her want to cry again.

Melissa forced the urge to cry away, standing up and shaking her head to try and clear it. Her stomach growled as she did so, reminding her that before the apocalypse she'd probably be eating right about now. She forced that urge away as well, knowing she had to try and make the supplies last as long as possible. As it was, her one or two meal a day schedule was still draining away her resources at an astounding pace.

She ran a hand through her hair before she opened the office door. She headed out into the main part of the church. The members of the Shield were talking quietly among themselves. Randy Orton was cleaning his arrows over by the door, and CM Punk was lying on his back on one of the pews, his head resting on his folded hands.

Randy looked up briefly as she came in before putting the arrows back in the quiver she hadn't noticed he had.

She sat down on one of the pews, her hands folded in her lap. She blinked in surprise as Roman approached.

"We're going out to try and find a car to replace the old one," he told her. "You want to tag along?"

Melissa paused for a moment before replying. She could stay safe in here or go out and possibly show the men she could she be helpful, which would be useful if she decided she wanted to go with them when they left for good. "Okay," she finally responded.

Roman left, quietly heading to talk to Punk. Melissa got up, searching for her backpack, which still had her screwdriver with it. Once she found it, she joined the Seth and Dean by the door. Randy joined them without a word, and soon Punk and Roman joined them as well.

Melissa followed them out the door. They started to head back towards the street where they had been travelling the most. "Wait!" Melissa hissed.

Dean looked back. "What is it?"

"The street could still be swarming with zombies!" she pointed out.

"She's got a point," Punk said softly. "I probably shouldn't have used the gun."

"And besides," Melissa continued as if Punk hadn't spoken. "I could have told you all of those cars over there won't run anyways. My group took out all of the gas from those before they left."

"Now she tells us," Punk murmured with an eye roll.

Melissa stuck her tongue out at Punk. "So we should probably head in the other direction, towards the houses. A lot of people… were holed up in there for a while, but eventually, they were, ah…" she hesitated. "Eaten, I guess. There's been no movement over there since the zombies were lured across town."

"Almost sounds too good to be true," Dean muttered before saying, "Lead away."

Melissa led them down the intersection, entering the shady haven the large trees covering the street provided. She passed by the first house that sat directly behind the church; it had been gutted by a fire that someone had started directly after things fell apart. She stopped at the crosswalk, turning right to walk by the front of the gutted house.

She passed by several other houses that had no cars in front of them. Her eyes roamed the street, looking for an undamaged vehicle. Randy found one before she did, as his "aha" sounded behind her.

She spotted the vehicle directly after. Across the street two houses down was a black Suburban, looking perfectly untouched.

"Alright, what's the catch here?" Melissa muttered with a small laugh. It couldn't really be all that easy.

The others passed by her, heading directly for the car. Melissa followed after a moment's hesitation, still believing it was too good to be true.

She stopped a few feet behind them as they investigated the car. She watched as Randy pulled on the handle of the car door, cursing softly when it didn't open. "Of all the things that have to be locked in the zombie apocalypse…"

"Why can't we just break the window?" Roman asked. "Then we can unlock the door."

"This thing is probably equipped with an alarm," Dean reasoned.

Suddenly there was a clink and Roman, Dean, Seth, Melissa, and Randy all turned to find Punk looking under the car. He stood up, something glinting in his hand. "Spare key," was all he said as he approached the driver side door. He stuck it in the lock and pulled the door open without a problem.

"Where'd you find the key?" Melissa asked curiously.

"A lot of people lock their keys in their car, right?" Punk said. "I don't remember where I heard about it, but there's a metal container you can buy to attach to the bottom of your car where you can keep a spare."

"Show off," Randy muttered.

"No, I'm not Dolph Ziggler," Punk said with a sarcastic grin.

"And I think we should probably be grateful for that," Dean muttered. "How the hell do you get someone so narcissistic to watch your back for you?"

Punk shrugged before hitting the unlock button for the rest of the doors and hopping into the driver's seat.

Melissa watched a small argument go down over who was going to ride in the passenger seat. "I don't think it really matters at the moment," Melissa pointed out as their voices got louder. "It's not really all that far back to the church, which is where you're going to have to go if you want to pick up your supplies."

"Fair point," Punk said with a shrug.

"And we should probably make sure it runs first," Melissa suggested. "It's great that we unlocked it, but that doesn't mean it can go anywhere."

"That's true," Punk said with a rueful grin. He stuck the key in the ignition and the car rumbled to life. Punk leaned forward to check the gauges. He tapped the steering wheel lightly. "Jackpot! It's full of fuel!"

"That's great. Let's head back to the church though," Randy suggested. "I don't like being out here like a sitting duck for the zombies."

"Pile in," Punk said, motioning at the seats.

"I'll walk, if someone's willing to come with me," Melissa murmured. She was starting to feel friendlier with the wrestlers, but she didn't want to squeeze into a car with them just yet when she could easily walk.

"I'll go with you," Seth volunteered, smiling at Melissa.

The others got into the car, with Randy finally ending up in the passenger seat, to the dismay of Dean and Roman.

Melissa started walking, her hands swinging loosely by her sides. She was starting to realize she was relaxed with Randy, Punk, Dean, Roman, and Seth. She came to the conclusion that she even felt safe for what felt like the first time in forever. It was then that she made her decision, and it dawned on her that it hadn't been that difficult of a choice in the first place.

She turned to face Seth, who stopped, seeming to anticipate her next words.

_I want to live,_ echoed through her mind right before she spoke. "Seth, I want to go with you."


	11. Chapter 11

Melissa held her breath as she waited for Seth's response. She let it out in relief as he replied with a small smile. "Okay, I'll talk to Dean and Roman about it."

"What about Randy and Punk?" she asked curiously as they resumed walking.

Seth shrugged. "It's not exactly their decision. And besides, the Shield has the majority," he said.

"So we still have democracy, at least," Melissa smiled.

"I guess," Seth said with a laugh.

They finally reached the church. Melissa saw the car parked around the back corner of the church; the others must have opened the gate that led into the small parking lot. _It's a good thing too, _Melissa thought to herself. They couldn't possibly know who else might be nearby and it wouldn't really help to have someone come by and steal the car if it was just sitting on the street. _Besides, it makes it easier to load up._

She followed Seth into the church to find the others moving back and forth across the room, trying to gather up everything that they had brought in. Even though it had only been a day, it somehow seemed like it had been placed all over the room with no thought for organization.

She knew her stuff could be loaded up fairly easily if she did end up going. It was all stored in boxes in the office; they only had to be moved.

She saw Dean and Randy bickering over something by one of the boarded-up windows. Seth went in that direction to try and stop the argument. Melissa looked around and found CM Punk quietly sorting through his pack on one of the pews in the back corner.

She sat down on the pew next to his bag. "Hi."

Punk looked up with a small frown. "Can I help you?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you needed any help," Melissa said.

"Nah, I'm good," he said, his frown disappearing. "Just trying to get things ready to go and trying to ignore them," he said, gesturing to the others. He rolled his eyes. "If they get any louder it's going to draw the zombies in."

She looked over to see Roman getting between Dean and Randy while Seth spoke to Dean. "I don't see how anyone can fight right now," she muttered.

"Why's that?" Punk asked curiously.

"There's no point to it!" Melissa said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I mean, think about it, there are things out there that are worse than everyone in here…"

"I'm glad you think so highly of us," Punk interrupted.

Melissa rolled her eyes, but continued. "What I'm trying to say is that arguing gets us nowhere. We have to work together to survive, or we're all going to end up dead."

"We're all going to die anyways," Punk said with a shrug.

Melissa frowned. "That's not very optimistic."

"Who said I was optimistic?" Punk said as he resumed going through his stuff. "I'm realistic."

Melissa said nothing, so Punk took the opportunity to continue. "See, it's a challenge to see who the best is. We can't survive together if someone's weak. Fights just weed out the weak and leave the strong standing. Basically, it's survival of the fittest."

Melissa abruptly stood up, a bit unnerved. "I'm going to go see if they need any help over there."

If Punk heard her, he did not acknowledge her words as he continued sorting. Melissa didn't wait to see if he said anything more anyways. She hurried over to the other side of the church, where Roman and Seth had successfully separated Dean and Randy, who were still glaring at each other.

Melissa stopped just a few feet short of where they were grouped. "Do you need any help?" she asked cautiously, not sure if she was interrupting anything.

Seth looked up. "Why don't you help Randy pack his stuff that he has over there?" He pointed to the bag by the door, which was in opposite direction of Dean.

"I don't need help," Randy protested angrily. "And besides…"

Seth rolled his eyes. "Randy, just let her help. I need to talk to Dean and Roman. Alone." He put emphasis on the word alone.

"Fine," Randy said with an eye roll of his own. "Come on then," he signaled to Melissa, leading her across the church. Melissa's heart skipped a beat in nervousness as she looked behind her at the Shield talking quietly.

Randy motioned for her to sit on the chair in front of the door. Melissa did, first spinning it around so it was backwards. She rested her chin on the chair back, watching Randy start his own sorting, similar to Punk.

Randy was quiet for a little before speaking. "So you know what they're talking about." He didn't frame it as a question.

"I…how did you know that?" Melissa asked incredulously.

"You keep glancing over there every five seconds," Randy explained.

"No I don't," Melissa mumbled, knowing that she had been doing just that.

"So what are they talking about?" he asked as if she had just admitted to knowing.

"Um…" Melissa stalled, not knowing if she wasn't supposed to tell Randy.

"Come on, I doubt it's some dark secret," Randy prodded.

Melissa nervously twirled a strand of hair around her left index finger. "Seth's seeing if Dean and Roman will let me come along with them," she muttered quickly.

"Do what now?" Dean's raised voice came from where the Shield was gathered.

Randy shrugged, seeming unsurprised. "I heard Seth ask you to go last night. I'm sure that if Seth wants you to go along, he'll somehow convince Dean and Roman."

Randy's words soothed Melissa. "Thanks," she murmured.

"For what?" Randy asked, looking up from putting all his stuff back in his bag.

"For making me feel better," Melissa explained.

"Ah." Randy fell silent as he continued packing.

After a little while he was done and he sat down on the bench with a satisfied sigh. Suddenly Punk approached, sitting down next to Randy. "What's got the Shield's panties in a twist? I get within five feet of them and get the death glares of a lifetime."

Randy smirked. "Shield business. No worries, Melissa and I got booted out too."

"Well, we can't just sit around for the rest of the afternoon. We need to get everything packed and ready to go to load up tomorrow. I don't really want to try that in the dark," Punk muttered.

Randy shrugged. "I'm sure they'll be done eventually."

As if on cue, the Shield split up, resuming their tasks of packing everything up. Seth came over and said to Punk, "Dean needs some help finding the baseball bats we brought in. Do you think you could help him with that?"

"That's like asking if I want to have my head chewed off," Punk muttered. He got up and went to help Dean anyway.

"Randy, do you mind helping Roman get all of the stuff in one spot so we can have it ready for tomorrow?"

Randy shrugged, getting up to go help Roman, leaving Seth and Melissa alone.

Seth had his hands in his pockets, looking a bit nervous. "Just thought I'd let you know that we haven't decided yet."

Melissa's heart seemed to stop for a moment.

"Dean just wanted to finish the packing, so I'll talk to them again tonight. I think Roman's on board for you going with us, so it shouldn't be too difficult to convince Dean."

Melissa nodded, trying to contain her emotions. She wanted an answer now, but she knew she had to be patient. "Okay," she said as calmly as she could manage. "So do you need any more help?" she asked.

"Not right now," Seth told her. "For now you can make sure all your stuff is ready to go."

Melissa nodded, slowly heading to the office in the back, silently praying that Dean would allow her to go. She knew it was her only chance at survival.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I want to apologize for getting this out so late. I've had a lot of stuff going on lately, and I wasn't too sure about this chapter. Anyways, hope you enjoy.**

Melissa had sorted through her stuff what felt like a thousand times. "It's probably only been twice silly," she muttered to herself. She sat back on her sleeping bag, which was the only thing that wasn't packed up. She figured it could wait until morning. There was just no way she would be sleeping on the floor.

Suddenly the door to the office was opened, causing her heart to speed up. She relaxed as she realized it was Randy. "At this rate, I'm going to die of a heart attack because of all these jump scares," she said to no one in particular.

"Because of what?" Randy asked, looking confused. He shook his head. "Never mind. But we were wondering if you could come help us out there."

"With what?" Melissa asked curiously.

"They want to find the quickest way to LA. We figured you'd be the local expert on that."

Melissa tried to hold on to her laughter, but a few giggles slipped out. "I'm not the one who spends 90 percent of my life on the road. And besides, I've only been to LA a few times to go to Disneyland. I wonder if Disneyland survived the apocalypse," Melissa mused.

Randy laughed. "What makes you think it did?"

"Why, it's the happiest place on Earth!" Melissa said brightly, attempting her best commercial impression. She giggled. "Honestly though, it would be weird if there was just an isolated spot of peace in the middle of all of this," she said as she stood up.

"That would be weird," Randy agreed as he led Melissa back out into the main part of the church.

Melissa started humming "It's a Small World" as she joined the Shield and Punk, the tune now stuck firmly in her head.

"Of all the things to hum, you choose that?" Punk asked, looking up from a map that was spread out on the church piano.

Melissa shrugged. "It got stuck in my head when I thought of Disneyland."

"Disneyland?" Roman asked in confusion, now looking up from the map.

"Technically in Anaheim, but I figured LA was close enough," Melissa said.

Dean ignored the topic of Disneyland and got straight to the point. "What's the fastest way to LA?"

Melissa joined them by the piano, gazing over the map. "Well, most of the time my family took Interstate 5." Her left index finger traced the road on the map. "But one time we did use Highway 101." She pointed to the highway on the map. She thought for a moment. "I think the I-5 is technically faster, but it's literally in the middle of nowhere."

"So is this town," Punk muttered.

Melissa ignored him. "The point is, if the car was to break down on the I-5, you'd have to hope you're near one of the towns, otherwise you're stranded. Though the 101 passes through a lot of cities. There would be an awful lot of zombies to try and get past if the cities are infected."

"Which would you suggest we take?" Dean asked bluntly.

Melissa thought it over for a moment. "Neither of them is really ideal, but I would personally use the I-5." Her heart fluttered for a moment, remembering that the I-5 was the way her family had gone.

Oblivious to her nervousness, Seth, who had been quiet the whole time, gazed at the map for a moment. "We'd have to get to the I-5 first."

Melissa pointed to one of the back roads that led up to the interstate. "We could use that road right there. It leads right to the I-5."

"We should do that then," Punk declared, not even asking for the others' opinions.

"Hey Punk, ever think about asking us?" Seth asked. "Democracy isn't dead yet." He grinned at Melissa.

Melissa shyly smiled back as Punk responded. "Yet," he said with an eye roll. "I love how you tacked that on the end. But fine, vote away," he commented, waving his hand for them to continue, stepping back to watch.

Roman shrugged. "I-5 sounds good."

Dean nodded. "I personally don't see anything wrong with taking that route."

Seth looked down at the map again. "I suppose that's the way we could go. What do you think Randy?"

Randy just shrugged, indicating that he obviously didn't care.

"Fine, I suppose we could take the I-5," Seth said, casting a sideways look at Melissa, obviously feeling uncomfortable about leaving her out of the vote.

Melissa gave him a reassuring smile. She knew it was probably for the best that she didn't make decisions with them in case she didn't get to go.

Punk came back towards the piano. "There wasn't even a need to vote," he pointed out with a short sarcastic laugh. "You all decided to go that way anyway."

Seth shrugged. "It doesn't hurt to ask." He started folding up the map.

"Doesn't hurt to ask," Punk muttered mockingly as he walked away.

Seth ignored him as he finished folding up the map.

Dean casually leaned up against the piano on the other side of Seth, looking at Melissa. "So Melissa, I heard that you wanted to come with us."

Melissa looked up, startled. She didn't think Dean would just ask her outright. She managed to nod.

"Thought you wanted to stay here," he said conversationally, though he carefully watched for her reaction.

"I changed my mind," Melissa murmured, glancing down at the glossy surface of the piano, which was slowly darkening in the fading light of the sunset.

"What changed it?" Dean asked her.

Seth took the moment to quietly leave, joining Roman and Randy over by the boxes of supplies, which were now all packed up and ready to go.

Melissa watched him leave, wishing he hadn't. She didn't really like being alone with Dean. _You're not alone; they're right over there if you need them,_ she thought. She looked at Dean, trying to come up with an answer. "I… I thought about what you said."

"No, you thought about what Seth said after I left," Dean accused her, which let Melissa know that he was clearly aware of what Seth had said last night when she was on watch.

Melissa traced the swirls in the piano wood, not looking at Dean. "Maybe."

"Maybe," Dean said with a short laugh. "Of course you did. I just softened you up the idea. Got it stuck in your head. It just took him to drive you over the edge."

"What do you want me to say?" Melissa demanded, finally looking up to find Dean standing in front of her.

"I want you to admit I was right," Dean told her. He inched closer to her. "I want you to admit that you're a scared little girl who wants a hero, a scared little girl who wants the big strong men to look out for her." He was now right up in her face, his warm breath ghosting over her face.

Melissa fought the urge to look and try and find Seth, Randy, or even Punk or Roman. She felt instinctively that doing so would be a weakness in Dean's eyes. He had been simply been in the background this whole time, so she had never paid any attention to him; he had seemed harmless. _It's almost like he tried to lull me into a false sense of security._ Well, it had worked, even if it hadn't been intentional. She frantically scrambled for a response. Only one thing came to mind, and she knew she was going to say it, even if the cost was her chance to leave with the wrestlers. "Fuck you."

A look of surprise crossed Dean's face before he started laughing unnervingly. He backed off, leaving Melissa confused. "Have it your way." Melissa gulped, wondering if she just had thrown her chance out the window. She swallowed the apology that was on her tongue. She refused to back down at this point. It wouldn't help her any to show weakness in her resolve. Dean watched her, obviously aware of her inner turmoil. He laughed again, leaning forward to whisper in her ear, "I'll tell Seth my decision tomorrow."

With that he left, leaving Melissa utterly puzzled and wondering whether she would be leaving tomorrow or not.


	13. Chapter 13

Melissa woke up the next morning to find Seth gently shaking her awake. "You're much better at wake-ups than Dean," she mumbled, still half-asleep. Dean had roughly poked her awake again during the night for her turn at watch, much like he had done the night before.

She saw Seth smile before he composed his expression. "Speaking of Dean…"

Melissa sat up, instantly alert. "Yeah?"

"He talked to me a few minutes ago…"

"And?" Melissa could hardly contain herself; Seth seemed to be dragging it out on purpose.

"If you stop interrupting me, maybe I could tell you," Seth chided teasingly.

"Sorry," Melissa mumbled.

"And…" Seth drew the sound out. "He said you could go."

Melissa froze for a moment while the words sank in. As soon as they did, she jumped up and tightly hugged Seth, trying to contain the squeals of utter joy. A few ones slipped out anyways, despite her efforts. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Enthusiastic women should come with a warning label," Seth said with an eye roll, but he hugged her back.

Melissa stepped away, regaining her composure. "Sorry," she said with a small rueful grin.

"It's fine," Seth said, grinning in return. "Though I wouldn't recommend trying it with Dean."

Melissa snorted. "No kidding."

She sat down on the edge of the desk that was in the room. "So should I start putting my stuff with yours so it can all be loaded up at once?" she asked.

"Probably wouldn't hurt. I'll see if Randy can help you out. I need to go talk to Punk about something."

Melissa nodded. "Okay, sounds good." She waited for Seth to leave before pulling one of the boxes out from underneath the desk. She hesitantly lifted it, not sure how much it would weigh.

It was heavier than she had originally thought, and she swayed, terrified that it was going to fall.

Suddenly a pair of hands lifted it away from her. She looked up from the box to find Randy.

"Thanks," she murmured gratefully. "I was probably going to drop that."

"Not a problem," Randy told her before he sat the box down on top of the desk. He picked something up off of the floor, presumably where he'd dropped it so he could help her. He handed it to her, and she realized it was the sleeping bag she had let him use.

"Why isn't that with the rest of your stuff?" Melissa asked curiously.

"It's yours. It belongs with you," Randy explained.

"Well, I meant for you to have it," Melissa said. "I didn't give it to you for you to loan it."

"Well, I thought you might want it back."

"Why? You still need to use it," Melissa said, confusion tingeing her tone.

"How do I put this?" Randy said awkwardly. "I thought you might want it back, well, because I'm leaving."

"Well, so am I…" Melissa started. "Wait, you mean you're leaving by yourself?"

Randy nodded. "I said that I was going to when you found me. Spend as little time with the Shield as I have to, and then I'm out."

"But…" Melissa protested. She didn't want Randy to leave. He was one of the main reasons she had decided to leave. It seemed cliché, but in the little time that she had spent with the five wrestlers, she had grown to care for them. "You can't!" she murmured sadly.

Randy shrugged. "It's always been said, hell, I've said it myself, I don't play well with others." He saw a tear trace its way down Melissa's cheek. "Hey, it's not you. You're much better to be around than the others."

Melissa smiled a bit. "Thanks, I think."

Rand continued. "It's just the way it is. But Melissa…" his tone grew more serious, if that was possible. He took her hands in his. "Hey, look at me." Melissa looked him in the eyes, waiting. "I want you to be careful around Punk. Call it a gut feeling, survival instinct. He's only in it for himself. If it comes down to you or him, he'll pick himself without even hesitating." Melissa felt chills raise goose bumps on her skin at Randy's words. She was surprised that Randy was warning her about Punk, rather than Dean. Except for the odd remark he had made the day before, Punk struck her as fairly friendly and normal. Dean was the one that worried her.

Melissa couldn't protest though. She wanted to part on good terms with Randy, and arguing wouldn't help that cause. She nodded. "I'll be careful."

"Good." Randy let go of her hands, stepping back.

"I still want you to keep the sleeping bag though," Melissa said.

"Thanks Melissa," Randy said. "It means a lot to me."

Punk suddenly stuck his head in the door, and Melissa worried for a moment that he had overheard Randy's words. "I've been sent to ask what's taking so long." His eye roll indicated that he didn't like being the messenger.

"We were just talking," Melissa informed Punk. "We'll be done moving soon. I don't have a lot of stuff."

"Okay," Punk said, seeming satisfied with her answer. He left the office, heading back towards the main area of the church.

Randy picked up the box off of the desk. "Is this the heaviest one?" he asked her.

Melissa nodded. She bent down to get another box out from under the desk, lifting this one up with ease compared to the first one.

They both carried the boxes out and stacked them next to the shrinking stack of the Shield's supplies. It was apparent that they were already loading up the car.

Melissa headed back to the office with Randy silently following. She had him pick up the larger of the two remaining boxes, and he left to go stack it with the rest, leaving Melissa to herself.

She pulled out the last box, gazing down at its contents. Inside were several photo albums, framed pictures, and other mementos from her life. It was all she had left of her family, but she knew she couldn't take it; there just wasn't enough room. She took out one of the photo albums and flipped through it, pausing on one of the more recent family photos. It had only been taken a week before the world fell apart. She had just graduated high school, and to celebrate her mom thought it would be fun to have a family photo taken to remember it by. Melissa smiled as she recalled the fuss her mom had made, and the protests she'd made. She slipped the photo out of the album, carefully folding it before putting it safely in her backpack. She pushed the box back under the desk, barely holding back the tears. She laughed weakly. "This is where the sad music would be playing in the movies," she murmured to herself as she made her way out of the office.

She passed through the main part of the church, and could see through the open door that the others were waiting outside. She paused for a moment in the doorway, glancing around the place that had been her home since the start of the apocalypse. For a moment she allowed a few nostalgic feelings to wash over her, but she turned away, closing the door behind her. It closed with a thud of finality; she knew there was no going back now.

She headed for where the car was parked under the shade of a tree. Randy was talking to the others, and as she approached she saw Randy and Seth exchange one of the "bro hugs" that she'd seen her brother and his friends do so often.

"We'll miss you man," she heard Punk say with what sounded like genuine honesty.

Melissa stopped next to Seth, who looked down at her. "You heard Randy's leaving?" he asked quietly.

Melissa nodded. Randy, apparently finished with his good-byes, turned to leave. Melissa acted on impulse. "Wait!" she called out.

Randy turned around and Melissa caught him in a hug, the tears now streaking down her face. "Bye," she managed to choke out.

Randy gently returned the hug. "Bye Melissa," he murmured. "Hey, cheer up. Maybe we'll see each other again, hmm?"

Melissa nodded, stepping away to rejoin the others. "Stay safe," she mumbled.

"Always," Randy said with a cocky grin. "You stay safe too." With that he turned and headed down the sunlit street, not looking back.

Melissa stood frozen in place, watching until he turned a corner and disappeared from view. She wondered for a moment if it was for good.

She felt someone gently turn her around, and fell into a hug from Seth. "It's time to go," he told her softly.

She followed him to the car, where Punk was already in the driver's seat. She saw Dean hop in the passenger seat, leaving her, Seth, and Roman to sit in the back. Roman was sitting behind Dean, looking like he was starting to fall asleep. Seth slid into the middle seat and Melissa slid into the last seat, closing the car door behind her. She buckled her seatbelt as Punk reversed the car out of the parking lot, putting it in drive when he got onto the street. They started the drive through town, and when they reached the road they were looking for on the outskirts of town, Melissa looked back one last time, silently saying farewell to the last vestiges of her past.


	14. Chapter 14

Melissa had fallen asleep as they drove, but was woken when the car pulled to a stop. She looked out the window, trying to gauge the time. She then remembered the car had a clock that was still working. The display read 12:30.

"Stupid," she muttered to herself.

"What was that?" Seth asked from his seat beside her.

"Nothing. Just forgot we had a working clock," she muttered.

Roman laughed from the other side of the car.

"It's not that funny!" Melissa protested.

Punk turned around, having put the car in park and taken the key out. "Actually, it is."

Melissa rolled her eyes. "Whatever. It's not my fault I've gotten used to them not working." She glanced out of the window, looking at where Punk had stopped. "Hey, I recognize this place. We've barely gone 30 miles!" She was surprised it had taken them almost four hours to reach the rest stop they were currently parked at.

"There may not be any more traffic, but everyone's cars are still on the road. It took a while to go around some of the wrecks."

"Oh," was all Melissa could think to say. Her gaze continued roaming over the rest stop, wondering if there were any zombies wandering around out there. She shivered as Roman, Dean, and Punk got out of the car. Seth slid out after Roman. She was surprised when Punk opened her door.

"Come on, you need to stretch your legs," he told her. "It wouldn't really be helpful if you got a blood clot."

"Deep vein thrombosis," Melissa piped up.

"What?" Punk asked in confusion.

Melissa laughed. "My dad liked to throw that term around; it's just a fancy way of saying blood clot."

Punk rolled his eyes. "Just get out."

Melissa was now in a better mood by thinking positively about her family. She hopped out of the car and had to reach out and grab Punk's arm as a wave of dizziness hit her. "Got up too fast," she said, laughing at herself as she let go of Punk.

Punk looked at her with puzzlement. "You're in an awfully good mood."

"I enjoyed the wonder known as air conditioning," Melissa joked. She reached back inside the car, grabbing her screwdriver. "I'm gonna go see if the bathrooms still work."

"You should probably take someone with you," Punk warned.

"Yeah, because I totally want a guy following me into the bathroom." Melissa said sarcastically.

"Please just see if Roman or someone will wait outside in case you need help."

"I'm messing with you. I get how the buddy system works," Melissa said teasingly. She left Punk, heading towards where Roman, Seth, and Dean were grouped around a vending machine.

"Hey, awkward request here…" Melissa started.

"Roman, go with her," Dean said, not even looking up from the vending machine.

"...How…"

"You talk loudly," Dean informed her.

Melissa shrugged. "Okay," she said, dragging the word out. She was still in too good of a mood to really care. She started heading for the bathrooms, hearing Roman start after her.

She reached the low stone building with the door labeled "Ladies." She stopped dead in the doorway as a foul stench flooded out.

"Holy cow, that smells!" Melissa muttered, pulling the collar of her shirt up over her nose. She hesitantly peeked inside, but it was pitch black inside. She turned to face Roman. "Got a flashlight in one of those vest pockets?" she joked, not really expecting him to have one.

"Actually I do," Roman said mildly, pulling a small flashlight out of one of the pockets.

"Show-off," Melissa grumbled. She took the proffered flashlight, turning it on. She gagged as she moved the beam around the inside of the room. There was a pile of bodies sitting in front of the sinks, all of them in various stages of decay. Flies were everywhere, making it look like there was a black cloud in the room. The floor tiles, probably once white, were splattered with pools of red. On one of the walls, painted in a red liquid—Melissa was almost positive it was blood— were the words "NOWHERE IS SAFE."

"Um, is that a warning?" Melissa said, looking away from the grisly sight. She was pretty sure she didn't have to use the bathroom anymore.

Roman shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't like it. Something doesn't feel right."

Suddenly a thud resounded through the bathroom. "What was that?" Melissa asked as she slowly backed away from the door.

Roman followed her, not answering. He was a few feet away when Melissa tripped.

She stumbled over a rock, crashing to the ground. Not a moment later a zombie came running out of the bathroom. Melissa had a moment to notice the frayed rope around its neck before she started scrambling to her feet. She had dropped Roman's flashlight but still had a good grip on her screwdriver. This time she didn't hesitate. As the zombie came at her, she raised the screwdriver, and the zombie simply impaled itself on it. Melissa yanked the screwdriver out, watching as the zombie collapsed to the ground, now dead. "Double dead," Melissa mumbled to herself.

Roman approached her, picking up his flashlight on the way. He carefully rolled the desiccated body over with his boot. When it didn't respond in any way, Melissa took a closer look. It looked like a girl no older than Melissa. She was wearing what had probably been a white shirt; it was red and a greenish-brown with old blood and decay. Melissa shuddered as she realized the girl was missing most of the right side of her face. She glanced at the rope again. "Looks like she was hung."

"That must have been her falling then," Roman said, referring to the thud from earlier.

"Let's hope she was the only one in there." Melissa walked forward, carefully closing the door. She spotted a larger rock that would probably hold the door closed. "Help me move that," she told Roman.

"And let's hope the men's bathroom isn't in the same condition," Roman muttered as he helped Melissa move the rock in front of the door.

"Amen to that," Melissa said. She pulled on the door handle, smiling a bit with satisfaction as the rock held the door in place.

They headed back to Seth and Dean, who had been joined by Punk. Dean turned around. "Can I borrow your screwdriver?"

Melissa held it out. Dean grimaced at the mess covering it. He then took a closer look. "That's fresh."

Melissa nodded. "There was one zombie in the bathroom, and a whole bunch of dead bodies. Though I think they were all dead dead. From what I could see, they all had damaged heads."

"Dead dead," Punk snorted.

"Dead once, came back, killed again. They're dead dead." Melissa said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Whatever. You block off the door?" Dean asked, carefully handing the screwdriver back to Melissa.

Melissa nodded as she took it back. "Should we go check the men's bathroom?"

"Probably wouldn't hurt."

"Be careful," Seth warned.

"No kidding," Melissa said, rolling her eyes. She headed off in the direction of the men's restroom.


	15. Chapter 15

Melissa looked back to see Roman following. She slowed so she was walking even with him. "You don't talk much," Melissa teased lightly.

"What's there to talk about?" Roman asked her.

"Fair enough," Melissa admitted. "Not a whole lot to talk about in the apocalypse, I guess. Maybe besides a zombie count." She laughed nervously at the end, not really meaning it.

"I've only killed two," Roman said, looking thoughtful. "The one on the street yesterday, and one other." His expression was sorrowful. "It was my cousin. We were at a diner when it started. What we think is just some crazy motherfucker comes crashing into the place through the window, right onto the table next to us. It was an old couple sitting there, so Jimmy got up to help. The guy just bit right into his arm. And then it yanked back." Roman shuddered. "I've never heard a man scream like Jimmy did. His arm was missing a huge chunk out of it, and then the guy came back for more. The diner owner pulled out a revolver and shot him in the stomach. By then everyone was starting to catch on that something wasn't right, especially when the guy just kept coming. The owner managed to get in a headshot. The guy went down, and then everyone panicked. They all ran out into the streets, where it was… it was just hell, I guess. Car wrecks, people getting eaten… Jey and I stayed inside. Jimmy wasn't going anywhere with his arm, and no one was going to be able to come help him; we watched the ambulance crash into several zombies and roll into a nearby building. The owner tried to help us bind it up…we even put a tourniquet on to try and stop the bleeding. By then it was already too late." Roman paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "He died in Jey's arms. We stayed inside the diner for about an hour until things calmed down. The owner went to go check on things outside when he was attacked. Jey and I couldn't have done anything if we tried; the zombie just ripped his throat out. Jey and I ducked back behind the counter, and Jey dragged Jimmy's body along. We waited for another hour; I don't even think we knew what we were waiting for. That's when Jimmy moved. Jey started shaking him and whispering his name. Of course, I know now that he wasn't alive. He sat up slowly at first, but then he got to his feet. Jey tried to drag him back down so nothing in the street could see us. Jimmy… he lunged for Jey, who managed to drop down in time so he didn't get bitten. Jey tried to reason with him…" Roman stopped.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Melissa whispered.

"No. It helps, in a way," Roman said before continuing. "It didn't take either of us long to realize there was no reasoning with him, that he was as gone as the man who had come crashing through the window. Jey found a carving knife behind the counter, and went to…to kill Jimmy. He faltered at the last second, screaming that he couldn't kill his own brother. He dropped the knife. Jimmy went for Jey again, and this time he got him, in the exact same spot that the man from earlier had gotten Jimmy. Jey was the one screaming this time. He backed away, and I dived forward and grabbed the knife. I… I stabbed Jimmy in the stomach, but it didn't do anything but almost cost me my life; his teeth barely missed my neck. His feet caught on some of the debris on the floor, and he fell forward, crashing into me. I fell backwards under his weight. I brought the knife up and stabbed him in the head. It didn't kill him, but I rolled over so he was on the floor and I buried the knife in his head. This time he didn't get back up. Jey watched the whole thing, holding onto his arm. He told me that he couldn't let what happen to Jimmy happen to him. He ran outside to where the diner owner had died. I didn't even have time to protest before he took the revolver and shot himself in the head." Roman fell silent for a moment. "A few minutes later Dean and Seth showed up. They found me in the exact same spot I'd been in when Jey did what he did. They somehow managed to get me to the car and out of town. And eventually we found you."

Melissa couldn't find any words to respond. _What do you say to something like that... _she thought to herself._ I'm sorry, wish it hadn't happened?_

"Roman…" Melissa began.

"We should probably hurry up," Roman interrupted, clearly changing the subject. "I think Dean and Punk are both in a hurry to get out of here and get as far as we can today."

"Okay," Melissa said softly. She hurried to the men's bathroom, which was blessedly free of zombies.

When she and Roman rejoined the others, they found them standing around a giant pile of cookies, chips, candy, soda, and broken plastic. "I see you didn't want to wait to use the screwdriver to open the vending machine," Melissa commented.

"What gave you that idea?" Dean asked her. "Here, grab some stuff and take it to the car."

Melissa grabbed an armful of the snacks and headed over to the car. She dumped all the food into one of the empty boxes.

It didn't take long for them to load up all the extra food. Dean and Punk, as Roman suspected, were both in a hurry to get moving and rushed everyone into the car, this time with Dean driving. Melissa watched the rest stop disappear around a bend as they started down the road.

She glanced over at Roman, whose eyes were closed. His expression was pained, as if he was reliving his cousins' deaths. Melissa sighed, changing her position so she was more comfortable in her seat. She stared out the window, grateful that she had never been put in the position Roman had been put in. And at the same time it made her feel guilty. It was a conundrum she wasn't quite sure how to deal with.

"What're you looking at?" Seth asked suddenly from beside her.

"Trying to figure out where all the cows went," Melissa joked lightly, not really feeling comfortable discussing what was really on her mind with Seth.

"That's actually a good question," Seth laughed.

"They probably got eaten," Punk commented from the passenger seat. His eyes were closed but he obviously hadn't been asleep.

"Thank you Mr. Optimism," Melissa said sarcastically.

"You're welcome," Punk said without a hint of sarcasm.

"Well if they did get eaten, I suppose we should just be glad they didn't turn into zombie cows," Melissa mused aloud.

"Zombie cows?" Punk said with a snort, turning around in his seat to look at Melissa.

Dean took that moment to wildly swerve around a wrecked car.

Punk was swung sideways and hit his head on the side of the chair. "Shit Ambrose, give a man a little warning," he muttered angrily, rubbing the side of his head. "Or at least slow down."

"You did the exact same thing," Dean commented. "I don't recall me complaining."

"You were asleep the entire time!" Punk exclaimed.

Melissa tuned out their bickering. She leaned back up against the window, sighing as she gazed at the empty countryside.

"You doing okay?" she heard Seth ask her quietly.

"Me?" Melissa turned to face Seth. "Yeah, I guess. Why?"

"You were really cheerful when we got to the rest stop, but now you're back to…"

"Being gloomy?" Melissa supplied.

Seth nodded.

"I guess the zombie in the bathroom threw me off. It felt normal, and everything, when we got there. But then there was the zombie, and it reminded me that the world isn't the way it used to be." Roman's story was what had actually bothered her, but the zombie had as well; Melissa figured a white lie wouldn't hurt. She just didn't feel like it was right to talk about someone while they were in the same car.

"I get it," Seth said. "It did feel kind of normal."

_Just delusions of safety_, Melissa thought to herself. She didn't say it out loud though.

Melissa has turned back to look out the window when she saw something on the side of the road that caught her eye.

"Wait a minute…" she murmured. Her eyes widened as she realized what she was seeing.

"Those are actual people!"


	16. Chapter 16

Seth leaned over, a look of surprise on his face. "Dean, pull the car over!"

"What?" Dean slowed, but did not stop.

"Stop the car!" Seth repeated.

Dean hesitantly pulled the car over, stopping beside a flipped Civic. "This isn't a good idea," Dean warned.

"They're alive," Seth argued. "And one of them looks injured."

"Then it's even better if we keep moving," Dean muttered as he got out of the car.

Melissa got out of the car, hopping to the ground. She was quickly followed by Seth. Punk and Roman joined the other three on their side of the car.

"I don't like this at all," Punk said, a glare on his face. "Something doesn't feel right. We should leave."

By then the group of four that they had spotted were coming into focus. One man was being half-carried; his arm was draped across his two of his companions' shoulders. The fourth man followed slightly behind them, seeming to keep watch.

As the four unknown men came closer, one of the men carrying the other called out, "Can you help us? He needs medical care!" The injured man started sagging towards the ground, dragging the two other men down with him.

"Is he bit?" Dean asked loudly as Seth darted forward to help. Melissa followed him, wondering what was wrong with the man.

Melissa and Seth knelt by the injured man. "What's wrong with him?" Melissa asked curiously, her eyes not finding any surface injuries. She leaned in closer to the man lying on the ground.

The man's eyes flickered open before he sat up, seeming perfectly fine. "…What…?" Melissa started to say before he grabbed her, standing up and dragging her up with him. His arm wrapped around her neck as she started screaming for Seth to help her.

One of the other men had grabbed Seth, who kicked him in the groin, causing him to let go. He darted forward to get to Melissa, but was stopped by the other man, who shoved him backwards as the man holding Melissa pulled something out of his pocket.

Melissa couldn't see what it was, but as soon as the cold metal was pressed up against her skull, she realized that it was a gun. She couldn't contain the whimper of fright that slipped out.

"Make another move and I blow her head off!" the man restraining her shouted at Seth.

Seth, who had been about to throw a punch at the man in front of him, slowly lowered his arm.

"That's what I thought," the man said smugly. "Now tell your friends," he nodded in the direction of Roman, Punk, and Dean, "to stand down. Or my men will take them out."

Several men stepped out from behind some of the overturned cars, guns pointed at the trio still by the Suburban.

"I told you this was a bad idea!" Punk yelled as one man came over and bound his wrists with rope.

"I did too," Dean pointed out.

The man still holding Melissa laughed outright. "You should have listened to your friends."

"We thought you needed help!" Seth said angrily as one of the men tied up his wrists.

The man tying Seth up laughed loudly. "Look at that, David!" He spoke to the man holding Melissa. "They actually thought we needed help!"

David smiled arrogantly. "I told you those acting lessons would pay off in the long run."

"I suppose they did," the other man said as he finished tying the ropes on Seth's wrists. The other men had dragged Roman, Punk, and Dean over, forcing them to their knees next to Seth.

David leaned forward to whisper in Melissa's ear. "I'm going to let you go now. You're going to go sit by the others. If you try to run, I'll shoot one of your friends. Got it?"

Melissa nodded slightly, her heart pounding. "Good," David said. He moved his arm from around Melissa's neck and roughly pushed her forward, causing her to stumble and land on her knees in front of the four wrestlers.

She didn't try to run, not wanting to put their lives in jeopardy. She also knew that she probably couldn't run if she tried; she felt petrified with fear. One of David's men came forward and tied her wrists behind her back. "Get them up!" David ordered.

Melissa squeaked in protest as the man yanked her to her feet by her bound wrists. "Shut up bitch," the man muttered, whacking her in the back of the head.

David spoke. "Let's get them back to camp. I'm sure we can find a use for them."

"We could use them as bait!" one of the nameless men suggested.

David eyed over the group, his expression thoughtful. "I'll think about it. Get them moving!" He signaled for his men to start walking towards wherever they were staying. Melissa and the others followed, having no choice as David's men pushed them forward.

"If I die because of this, I'm coming back and eating you," Dean muttered under his breath at Melissa.

Melissa looked incredulously at Dean. "Really? I don't think you'd have much preference as a zombie," she hissed.

"I'd find a way," Dean said confidently.

"Instead of trying to figure out whether you can manage to make sure you eat Melissa if you turn, can you try and figure a way out of this?" Punk whispered fiercely.

"No talking!" the man behind Punk said, hitting Punk in the back of the head with the butt of his pistol.

"Shit!" Punk cursed as his head shot forward. "What the hell was that for?!" he yelled as he turned around to look at the man.

Instead he found himself face to face with the barrel of the man's pistol. "Shut up or I'll do it for you!" the man threatened.

Punk fell quiet. Melissa felt tears starting to run down her face. If only she hadn't looked out the window at that moment, then they wouldn't be in this situation.

She felt a burning hatred towards David and his men. How could they live with threatening other human beings when there was something so much worse out there? Melissa couldn't comprehend it. Her inner thoughts continued to rage as David led them over a ridge, showing a view of a camp nestled among a grove of trees.

Melissa thought it might look picturesque in different circumstances, but at the moment it repulsed her; she wanted to get away as quickly as she could; she felt like nothing good could come out of that camp.

Before long they were among the tents. Several starved-looking women eyed them hostilely as they passed by. Melissa thought something looked odd, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"There are no children!" Seth exclaimed quietly.

Melissa looked around, realizing that was what seemed off.

David, having heard Seth, turned around. "There is no room for weakness anymore," he said curtly.

"What do you mean by that?" Melissa asked hoarsely.

David pointed to something on a nearby hill about 20 feet away that Melissa hadn't noticed before. As Melissa turned to look, the sun passed behind a cloud, shadowing the area. She was still able to see that there were several rows of tall, crudely fashioned stakes sticking out of the hillside like grotesque fingers. But it was not just a wall of stakes.

Melissa felt all of the blood drain from her face as she realized what was impaled on the stakes. "You monster," she whispered.

The bodies of many young children were spiked on the stakes, along with the bodies of the elderly. The breeze suddenly changed direction, bringing with it the stench of decay emanating from the hill.

Melissa saw one body, probably that of a child no more than five, shift on the stake, apparently having become a zombie. She darted a few feet away from her captors, kneeling down to be sick in a nearby bush. She sat there for a moment, her whole body shaking. One of David's men hauled her back to her feet. "How could you?!" she screamed at David as she started sobbing. "Why would you do this?!"

"Someone shut her up before she draws in the zombies!" David ordered loudly. One man clapped his hand over Melissa's mouth. David strode over to stand in front of Melissa, who was staring down at the ground. He yanked her head up, forcing her to look at the row of stakes. "Look. Look!" he yelled as Melissa tried to glance away. "You see them?!" he said angrily. "They were a weakness! A scourge on my group! If we had kept them we'd all be dead by now!" He gestured around camp. "I am doing these men and women a favor! Hell, I did those things a favor!" He pointed furiously at the staked bodies. "They would have been doomed to suffer! They would have lived their lives in fear! I saved them from being eaten alive! I saved them from that!" His eyes were crazed. "Don't you dare question my motives! I know what's in humanity's best interests!"

He shoved Melissa towards a nearby tent that his men had opened up. "Get inside," he ordered, his voice returning to normal volume. Melissa was pushed inside the tent, where she collapsed, still crying. She saw Seth for a moment through the entrance of the tent before one of David's men zipped the tent shut, sealing her off from her companions.


	17. Chapter 17

Melissa was attempting to get the ropes around her wrists untied. She'd been trying for what felt like hours but was having no success. She stopped for a moment, rolling onto her side, trying to see through the dimness of the tent if there was anything that could help her get loose. The tent seemed bare except for the cot in the corner that had a nasty smell coming from it. Melissa looked closer at the cot, wondering if there were any sharp edges to cut the rope on.

She dragged herself closer to the cot, breathing through her mouth as the smell got worse. She ignored it for the moment, still searching. She sighed as she found nothing. She leaned up against the cot, staying there until she heard the tent unzip.

David stepped into the tent. He came in, zipping the tent up behind him. "Hello," he said cheerfully, as if he wasn't holding Melissa prisoner. He knelt in front of Melissa. "I never caught your name," he said, gazing intently at her face.

Melissa wanted to look away; his gaze made her skin crawl. "Melissa."

"Well, Melissa, I would say it is a pleasure to meet you, but under the circumstances, I don't think you'd agree." David leaned back, giving Melissa a bit more personal space. "So tell me Melissa, where were you and your friends going?"

"Nowhere really," Melissa hedged. She wasn't sure how much she should tell David.

David reacted by slapping her across the cheek.

"Ow!" Melissa yelped. "What was that for?"

David shrugged. "Tell me the truth. Now where were you headed?"

"South."

"You were travelling east though," David reminded her.

"Why does it matter to you?" Melissa asked him.

"I want to know why you were in my territory."

"Territory?" Melissa questioned.

"This is my land now," David said. "And I want to know what you're doing here."

"We're just passing through," Melissa answered honestly.

"You're weren't going to attack us?" David said suspiciously.

"No! We didn't even know you were here!" Melissa protested. _The whole apocalypse thing has made him paranoid_, Melissa thought to herself.

"How can I know that?" David asked, seemingly more to himself. "You stopped when you saw us. How can I know that you didn't mean to take all our stuff?"

"We thought you needed help, so we stopped!" Melissa said.

David's eyes were unfocused. "No one stops to help anymore. We had a man who was legitimately injured, and no one stopped to help. Three cars drove right by us. You didn't though." Now David's gaze was focused on Melissa. "No, you didn't. You stopped. You meant to rob us," he suddenly accused.

"You've lost your mind!" Melissa spat impulsively. She gulped, realizing what she'd said. _You're speaking before thinking again_, she thought nervously.

"Lost my mind, have I?" David asked angrily as he stumbled to his feet. Melissa wondered briefly if he was drunk. He drew a knife from a sheath on his belt, brandishing the blade in Melissa's face.

Melissa was cross-eyed trying to focus on the blade. David spoke again. "Lost my mind?" he repeated. "More like I'm the only sane one left!" he declared. "I'm the only one that can see," he pointed at his eyes, "I'm the only one that can see what needs to be done. I'm the one who can keep the rest of us sane."

He sat back down on his knees. He sighed, his gaze now unfocused. He reached forward, running a hand through Melissa's hair. It took all of Melissa's self-control not to shy away. "Melissa," David crooned, seemingly calm again. "Melissa, Melissa, Melissa. Don't you see? I can keep you safe," he murmured, his eyes now closed. "Not like those other men, no. They were leading you into a death trap. LA's gone."

"...How…?" Melissa interrupted.

"I got that man with the two hair colors- Seth, I think it was- to talk," David murmured. "He told me where you were all going."

Melissa trembled slightly. She hoped Seth was okay. David, however, took the shivering the wrong way. "See, you were scared of them. You don't have to be scared of me," he said softly, still running his hands through her hair. "No, I'll keep you safe." He opened his eyes. "Stay Melissa. Stay here and I'll keep you safe."

"What if I didn't want to stay?" Melissa asked boldly.

David looked outraged. He brandished the knife again, pointing it at Melissa's face. "You will stay, or you will die."

Melissa carefully thought out her response. "I thought I didn't have to be afraid of you," she said cautiously. "You're scaring me."

"I'm sorry Melissa," David suddenly said, his apology sounding sincere. "Here, I've got another option." He got up and left the tent, leaving Melissa where she was. He came back a few minutes later. "Close your eyes; it's a surprise!" he said gleefully, as if he was a small child.

Melissa closed her eyes, wondering what David had planned. She heard something hit the ground behind her, but didn't look. She heard the tent zip shut. David came over, cutting the ropes off of her wrists with his knife. "Open your eyes," he ordered.

In front of Melissa was Punk. His wrists were tied behind his back, and he had a gag on that prevented him from talking. She nearly jumped in surprise as David placed his knife in her hands. "Here are the revised options. Option A: Stay here and be safe, or you can have option B: you can walk free… if you kill him." He pointed at Punk.

"What?!" Melissa exclaimed angrily. "Those are my options?"

David nodded smugly, seeming awfully proud with himself.

Melissa glanced down at the knife in her hand. Was her freedom worth CM Punk's life?

"It's a simple choice Melissa!" David said in a singsong tone.

Melissa looked up, meeting Punk's gaze. He had a 'do it, I dare you' sort of look in his eyes. Melissa stared at the knife. She stood, the knife gripped tightly in her hand.

She took a step forward towards David and Punk. Punk had a look of disbelief in his eyes, as if he hadn't really expected this from Melissa.

Melissa stopped right in front of Punk. David stood directly to her left. His expression seemed to egg her on; he wanted to see if she had the guts to kill Punk. Melissa raised the knife. Punk closed his eyes, seeming resigned to his fate.

Melissa's heart was beating like crazy. She swung the knife down…right at David. She buried the blade of the hunting knife in David's stomach, all the way to the hilt. She yanked the blade out, watching as David collapsed to his knees.

David looked up at her in incredulity. "What…?" he choked out as his hands grasped at the wound in his stomach.

"Option C," Melissa said harshly.

David lunged upward in anger, tackling Melissa to the ground, his wound forgotten for the moment. "You bitch!" he growled. "I'll kill you for this!" He pressed his knee into Melissa's chest, which hindered her movement and breathing. He searched for his knife on Melissa's left, where she had dropped the knife when he had tackled her. He found the knife with an evil grin. He raised it up into the air, similar to how Melissa had done so a few moments ago.

He had forgotten about CM Punk, who had maneuvered himself to his feet. He kicked David in the head, causing the man to tumble sideways. Melissa leaped to her feet as Punk stomped on David's head. She reached down to take the knife from David.

David, despite receiving several hard blows to the head from Punk, swung upward with the knife. It grazed across her face, leaving a stinging cut. Punk kicked David in the chest this time, causing his arm to come back down and futilely grab at his stab wound from earlier, which was still pouring blood. Melissa managed to wrestle the knife from his grip. She took the knife, and her hands were steady as she brought the knife down on David's head.


	18. Chapter 18

The knife plunged through his head with a sickening crunch. Immediately David's struggles stopped.

Melissa fell backwards to the ground and scrambled away from David's body. "Oh my God." She wanted to scream. "Oh my God, I killed him." She still had the knife in her hand. She glanced down at it, shuddering in disgust. She wanted to throw it as far as she could; she wanted it away from her.

Punk, apparently sensing her intentions, moved towards her, motioning as best he could to indicate that he still needed to be cut free.

Melissa shakily cut the ropes off, trying not to slice up Punk's wrists. As soon as his hands were free, he ripped the gag out of his mouth. "We need to get out of here," he said urgently.

Melissa nodded mutely. She went to set the knife down before Punk caught her wrist. "Keep it. We may need it yet." Melissa nodded with a grimace.

Punk looked over David's dead body, searching for anything else they could use. "Aha!" he murmured as he pulled a handgun out of David's coat pocket. "I wondered if he had taken that."

"Is that yours?" Melissa said hoarsely.

Punk nodded. "He should have one of his own somewhere," he muttered before he found David's pistol in the other pocket. "You want this?" Punk asked.

Melissa shook her head, but Punk pressed the gun into her hand anyways. "It'll be better than using a knife," he told her.

"I don't have anywhere to carry the knife if I'm using the gun," Melissa said, trying to come up with an excuse not to use the gun.

Punk unhooked the sheath from David's belt before handing it to Melissa. "Put that on."

Melissa hooked the sheath on her belt, carefully putting the knife in it. She picked up the handgun, shuddering as she did so. Punk looked at her. "Ready?" he asked her.

She shook her head. How could she be ready after something like that?

Punk looked sympathetic. "I know it's probably tough, but you need to deal with later. We need to get out of here _now_."

Melissa nodded. "I know," she muttered. She tried to put on a brave face. "Let's go."

Punk looked at her once more before unzipping the tent. It was dark outside; the sun had already set. "Where'd the guard go?" Punk murmured. "There was one here earlier."

The sound of shouting from somewhere else in camp reached their ears. "Zombies in the west quarter!" Gunshots echoed through the trees.

"Shit, now we really need to get out of here," Punk said. He looked down the aisle of tents, trying to figure out which way to go. While he was trying to decide, a zombie came running out from behind a tent to Punk's left.

"Punk!" Melissa screamed in warning.

Punk managed to turn, pulling the trigger on his pistol as he saw the zombie. The report of the gun stunned Melissa's ears as the zombie dropped down, dead. The noise drew in more zombies, as another two appeared; one to the left, and one to the right.

Punk grabbed Melissa's wrist, pulling her along as he ran forward, away from the zombies. They dashed past several of David's men, who paid them no attention as they ran past, away from the sounds of fighting behind them.

Punk led her through camp, dodging past several fallen bodies. As they approached the edge of camp, Melissa came to a halt. "What about the Shield?!" she said in a panic, looking back at the camp, which had been set ablaze sometime while they were running.

Punk glanced back in indecision. "They can take care of themselves," he said. "Let's go. They'll probably meet up with us at the car. Now come on!" He resumed running, leaving Melissa to follow him, but not before she looked back one last time at the burning camp.

She followed Punk out of the trees as they entered a field. She was certain it wasn't the one they'd come through when David had led them to camp earlier that day. They dashed through the tall grass and weeds, dodging past several zombies that stumbled towards them as they were spotted. Melissa followed Punk blindly, wishing the moon would come out from behind the clouds.

She got her wish as the clouds moved away, letting the moon wash the field in silver light. Melissa wanted to scream as she saw that the field was full of zombies. She continued running after Punk, her breath not coming as easily as before.

They ran for what felt like hours, trying to outdistance the zombies. They finally caught a break when they found a deep ditch that the zombies probably wouldn't be able to climb out of. Punk jumped over first, and Melissa trailed after him, barely making the jump. Punk grabbed her arms and hauled her to her feet as they continued running.

After a while they slowed, and after looking back to see that they had no followers, they stopped. Melissa collapsed to her knees, trying to catch her breath as she inhaled raggedly. She felt extremely light-headed and her legs were burning.

"Come on," Punk forced out between breaths. He didn't seem to be in as bad a condition as Melissa, but he did sound a bit winded. "We need to find some shelter."

Melissa staggered to her feet. She followed him, thankful he had slowed his pace to a slow jog.

They ran for a little while longer before they found an abandoned two-story farmhouse sitting on a low hill. They made their way up the hill, sighing in relief as they found the house empty of people. Melissa sat down on the dusty couch in the sitting room. She put her head between her knees, still dizzy.

Punk sat down next to her, looking around. "We can stay here for tonight and head back to the car in the morning."

"Okay," Melissa managed to say. "Right now I just need to catch my breath."

"I'll go take a look around," Punk said, sounding like he'd already recovered. "Stay here, alright?"

Melissa nodded, closing her eyes as Punk left her to search the house.

About ten minutes passed before Punk returned. "There are beds upstairs!" Punk said gleefully as he reentered the sitting room they'd first entered.

"Beds?" Melissa said, looking up in surprise. "You're kidding."

"Nope!" Punk said with a grin. "Actual, real-life beds."

"I wonder why all this furniture is still here," Melissa said. "It looks like it's been here for ages."

Punk shrugged. "Maybe the owner died and he didn't have any heirs, so it's been abandoned. Either way, I'm just grateful it's here."

"That's true," Melissa agreed.

"I'll keep first watch," Punk offered as they climbed the stairs.

"Okay," Melissa said gratefully. Punk pointed her towards the spare bedroom. She smiled briefly as she realized that Punk had taken the master bedroom. She flopped down on the dusty bed, not caring when the dust flew up into the air around her. It felt so much better to be lying on a bed instead of a sleeping bag on the floor.

"I'll be in the kitchen downstairs," Punk told her before he left. Melissa nodded, watching him leave the room.

Melissa stayed awake for a little, studying the nondescript room. She didn't think she could sleep after all that had occurred, but before long she felt her eyes closing as she fell asleep.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I'm incredibly sorry that I haven't written for a long while. I was on vacation from school, and whenever that happens I get a horrible case of writer's block. I've got a few more chapters ready to go already, so I should be able to keep it going for a while. Again, terribly sorry that I haven't written. Hope you enjoy what I finally did get done!**

Melissa woke up panting, her wild heartbeat slowing as she realized she'd only had a nightmare. She rolled over, coughing slightly as the movement stirred the dust. She stared out at the moonlit room, taking in what the silvery light showed. She sighed, wishing she was sleeping instead, but sleep was not coming easily to her after her nightmares.

She spied a bookshelf in the corner of the room after a little. She stood up, quietly moving across the room until she was in front of it. Squinting in the moonlight, she gazed at all the different books on the shelf. She hadn't read at all since the start of the apocalypse, and now she felt a nagging urge to do so, just to calm herself down. "Just a small break from reality," Melissa muttered. _A story where the good guys win,_ Melissa thought to herself. _That's what I need._

She browsed through the titles until she actually found her favorite book. "Aha!" she murmured as she pulled _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_ off of the shelf. It was well-worn, as if it had been read many times by its previous owner. She moved over until she was in front of the window, letting the moonlight shine down over her shoulder onto the pages.

Melissa opened the book up, sighing softly as she read the first few words, so familiar to her. She read for a while, before thinking of Punk downstairs. She might as well go take over the watch if she wasn't going to be sleeping.

Pushing herself to her feet, she left the room and made her way down the stairs. She found Punk in the kitchen like he said he'd be. He had found a single candle and lit it, lighting up part of the kitchen in a warm golden glow. He was sitting on the counter over by a window, staring out at the scenery behind the glass.

"What are you looking at?" Melissa asked curiously.

Punk started in surprise. "Just checking to make sure there were no zombies sneaking up on us. We don't really have much in the way of weapons, besides the guns, and those are too damn loud for my liking."

"Maybe we should look around in the morning," Melissa suggested.

"Speaking of looking around," Punk said as he jumped down off of the counter, "I did some of that. That's I how I found the candle." He pointed at the single candle. "And…" He drew the word out. "I also found some canned food!" He opened up a door, which obviously was the pantry, because it was stacked full of dry goods.

Melissa stared at the food for a moment before speaking. "You just hit the jackpot!"

"I know I did," Punk said smugly. "And with everything still being left out in this house, there probably should be a backpack or two to carry everything in."

"If it didn't attract zombies, I'd probably be screaming for joy right about now," Melissa said with a small laugh. She eyed a can of peaches. "…I don't think it would hurt to eat one or two of them, would it?"

"We won't be able to carry out all of it, even if the Shield turned up," Punk confirmed.

"Do you think they will?" Melissa asked, overcome with a wave of guilt as she realized she hadn't thought of them in hours.

"They can take care of themselves," Punk assured her, echoing his words from earlier. "We're heading back to the car tomorrow, so we'll probably see them by then."

"Promise?" Melissa asked hopefully, knowing it really wasn't within Punk's power to promise.

"Melissa…" Punk started.

"I know," Melissa mumbled. "I just wish there was a way to know that they're okay."

Punk nodded. "I do too. But there's nothing we can do about it, and worrying isn't going to help."

Melissa sighed. "I know. Thanks anyways." She glanced up, looking at Punk, who seemed exhausted. "Why don't you go sleep? I can keep watch the rest of the night." She knew she wasn't going to sleep after the nightmares that had woken her earlier.

Punk shrugged. "I'm not ready to sleep just yet. I'm going to go look for some backpacks, and maybe a flashlight. There's probably tons of stuff lying around, and I'm going to find it."

"Want me to help at all?" Melissa asked.

"As long as you remember to check for zombies every once in a while. I don't really want to be snuck up on by something that doesn't even bother with stealth." With that Punk left the kitchen, heading into what Melissa thought might be the dining room.

She glanced out the window once, looking for any zombies. Not seeing any, she followed Punk, trying not to run into anything as the light from the lone candle faded. She pushed open the swinging door, gazing around the dark room. A large dining table sat in the middle of the room, taking up most of the available space. Punk was over by a fancy cupboard in the corner, searching through it. The sound of clinking dishes reached her, and she joined him. She leaned up against the table. "I don't think there's going to be anything in there," she commented.

"You never know. People put things in the weirdest places," Punk muttered.

"That's true," Melissa said with a small laugh. "My parents liked to keep the peanut butter with the spices. I never figured out why."

"Maybe they wanted spicy peanut butter?" Punk suggested. He stood up, carefully balancing himself on the cupboard in the dark. "Nothing here," he said, referring to the cupboard.

"To the next room!" Melissa declared with another laugh. "It's like an insane treasure hunt!"

"You're insane for thinking it's a treasure hunt," Punk muttered.

Melissa stuck her tongue out at Punk, knowing full well that he wouldn't see it in the dark.

Punk led them out of the dining room through another door, which opened up on the living room. "You search over there," Punk told her, pointing to a small end table, which sat like a small lurking animal in the dark.

Melissa headed over to the end table, cursing softly as she ran her shin into the coffee table in front of the couch. She kneeled down in front of the end table, opening the small cabinet doors. She squinted in the darkness, trying to see what might be inside. She decided she would have to feel the objects out; there was no other way she could really determine what the objects were in the dark. She carefully reached inside, thinking for a moment that there were probably spiders inside. She suppressed a shudder, carefully pulling out the first object.

There only ended up being magazines and a few books inside; there wasn't anything that could really help them, unless she wanted to learn how to decorate a home, which wasn't exactly at the top of her list of priorities at the moment.

She left the living room for a moment, going back to the kitchen to look out the window for zombies. There were none, and so she headed back into the living room. She could dimly see Punk rummaging through a cupboard under the stairs. "Find anything?" she asked as she came up behind him.

In response, a bright light was shone in her eyes; Punk had found a flashlight.

After Punk turned the flashlight off, Melissa rubbed her eyes, trying to get rid of the blinking spots that overlaid her vision. "Did you really have to do that?" she grumbled.

"Yes."

Melissa rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You find anything else good?"

"I found another flashlight, plus a few bags. One or two of them should work for us," Punk told her.

"Cool," Melissa said with a yawn.

"Why don't you go back to bed?" Punk offered. "I don't mind keeping watch."

Melissa shook her head. "Nah. You need some sleep. I'll be in the kitchen."

Punk shrugged in the darkness. "If you're sure."

Melissa nodded. "I've got a book I can read if I get bored."

"I'll be upstairs then," Punk said, heading for the foot of the stairs, yawning as he went. Melissa waited until he had made it up the stairs, and then headed back to the kitchen, still lit by the lone candle. She pushed herself up onto the counter where Punk had been sitting, opening up the book she'd left earlier. She gazed out the window once more before she started reading, taking a temporary break from the nightmarish world that had become her reality.


	20. Chapter 20

Melissa woke to someone shaking her shoulder. "What do you want?" she muttered, her eyes still closed.

"You fell asleep," Punk said gently.

Melissa blearily opened her eyes to find him standing in front of her. The book was lying open in her lap, where she had been reading it. She realized the sun had risen, and was filtering in through some of the windows, giving the house a warm, friendly look. Then the gravity of Punk's words crashed over her. She'd fallen asleep on watch! "Shit, I'm sorry," she muttered, realizing it was a mistake that could have potentially cost them both their lives.

"No harm done," Punk said easily, though his eyes seemed to say that he really hoped it wouldn't happen again.

Melissa took in his appearance, suddenly noticing that his hair was tousled and… was it damp? "What happened to your hair?" she asked him. "It looks like you slept in a rainstorm!"

Punk smiled. "There's a pump well out back, and I pumped some out and carried it up to the bathtub upstairs and had myself a bath. I was freezing by the time I was done, but at least I'm clean. Hey, where are you going?"

Melissa had jumped off of the counter halfway through Punk's sentence. "You had me at bath!" Melissa said. She couldn't seem to remember the last time she had bathed.

Punk laughed now, and pointed to a door that led out of the kitchen, presumably to outside. "The well is out there. I put the bucket back, but you'll still have to haul the water upstairs."

Melissa was already opening the door, rushing outside to the well. Punk followed, staying in the doorway while she walked the short distance to the well. "I'll be inside packing up some of the food," he told her.

Melissa nodded to acknowledge him, and started pumping some of the water, almost giggling in glee when it poured into the bucket. She spent the next half-hour or so hauling the water up to the bathroom until the tub was nearly full. She quickly got in, remembering Punk's words about the water being freezing. It wasn't nearly cold as she had thought it would be, but it was certainly no warm bubble bath. She hurriedly washed her body and hair, wanting to get out of what was quickly becoming murky gray dirty water.

After Melissa got out and drained the tub, she dried off and put her clothes back on, wishing they were cleaner. She spent another half-hour or so trying to untangle the snarls and tangles that had formed in her curly hair. At one point she nearly reached for a pair of scissors that she had seen in one of the drawers, but she persevered and managed to make it look and feel decent. She tied it back, before leaving the bathroom. She headed back down to the kitchen, but Punk wasn't in there. Heading into the dining room, she found Punk eating a bowl of peaches while reading out of the book she had left on the counter in her haste to bathe.

Melissa sat down next to him. Punk looked up from the book. "Feeling better?" he said with a smirk.

"I forgot how nice it was to be clean," Melissa admitted. She looked at the bowl of peaches. "That better not have been the only can of peaches."

"There was plenty of them, from what I could see," Punk said, waving the fork he was eating them with at the general direction of the kitchen. "Have at it. I've packed two backpacks full of what I could find."

Melissa headed back into the kitchen, opening the pantry and found another can of peaches, as Punk had said there would be. She grabbed it and rummaged around to find a bowl she could pour them in, along with a fork to eat them with. She found both fairly quickly and also located the can opener Punk had used. After opening the can, she hastily poured the peaches into the bowl and joined Punk in the dining room.

Punk looked up again as she entered the room, but went back to reading as she sat down. It took some self-control on Melissa's part not to rush through eating the peaches, knowing she really didn't want a stomachache. After finishing her peaches, she sat back, feeling contentedly full for the first time in what felt like forever.

As she did so, Punk carefully closed the book, placing it down on the table. "Are you ready to go?" he asked her.

Hesitation made Melissa pause. "I really don't want to leave; it's so nice here, but we need to find the Shield…" She thought for a moment. "Maybe when we find the Shield we can come back here?" she suggested hopefully.

Punk looked thoughtful. "I wouldn't be entirely opposed to it. I wouldn't mind being able to bathe every day," he said with a small laugh.

"But we still need to find the Shield," Melissa said, almost as a reminder to herself; she knew that the trio was much more important than her hygiene.

Nodding, Punk stood up. "We should probably head out now, while there's still plenty of daylight."

Melissa stood as well. She grabbed their bowls, taking them back into the kitchen and placing them in the sink.

Punk followed her curiously. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I don't like leaving a mess," Melissa explained. "I'm having a random burst of neat-freakiness."

"Okay," Punk muttered, dragging the word out.

As Melissa stacked the bowls carefully in the sink, a thought came to her. "Hey, should we leave a note in case the Shield ends up here while we're looking?"

Punk looked surprised. "That's not a bad idea. I'll do that while you gather up whatever else you want to take with you." He crossed the kitchen, rummaging around in a drawer, presumably where he'd found some stationary to write on. Melissa, meanwhile, headed back into the dining room, reaching for the book sitting on the table. There was just no way she could leave it behind. She thought for a moment how much her morals regarding stealing had changed; she now did it without thinking. "It's survival," she muttered to herself. Now was not the time to doubt herself. She picked up the book, knowing full well that the book wasn't exactly survival gear. _Mental survival,_ Melissa thought to herself with a slight giggle.

Rejoining Punk in the kitchen, she watched as he stuck it to the fridge with a magnet. It read in large print, "IF YOU SEE THIS, WE'VE ALREADY BEEN HERE. HEAD SOUTH TO GET TO THE CAR. WE'LL MEET YOU THERE –PUNK AND MELISSA."

Melissa nodded in satisfaction. "I guess we're ready to go then."

"I guess we are. Come on, the backpacks are in here." He led her into the living room, and pointed out the backpacks on the couch. He picked up one, so she shouldered the other, grunting slightly as she adjusted to the weight. Canned food wasn't all that smart unless you had a car, she decided.

Punk stood waiting by the door. "Do you have the gun and knife?" he asked her.

Melissa nodded, her throat dry. The knife sheath and gun holster hadn't left her side except when she had bathed; they were both on her hips, and both had their respective weapon. She shivered slightly. She still hadn't really had time to process the emotional fallout, and she wondered if she ever would. Or she even wanted to. Maybe it was better to just let it lie in the past.

Punk, unaware of her inner troubles, had opened the door, letting her walk through before closing it behind them with a soft thud. "Let's go then," Punk said, heading back in the direction they had come from.

"Here's to finding the Shield," Melissa murmured as she started after him in the early morning sunlight.


	21. Chapter 21

"Please tell me you remembered to grab a can opener," Melissa grumbled.

They had stopped for lunch by a group of large boulders; Melissa was currently shrugging off her backpack, while Punk was already sitting on one of the sun-warmed rocks, sifting through his backpack.

"Better. I brought two," Punk said with a smirk.

Melissa rolled her eyes as she sat down next to him. "You're silly."

Punk pretended to look offended. "Do you want lunch or not?" he said teasingly, waving the can opener in front of her face.

Melissa grabbed at it, but Punk leaned back, effectively putting the opener out of Melissa's reach. "Your arm reach is longer than mine. It's not even fair."

"Who said I was fair?" Punk teased. He tossed her the can opener, which she barely managed to catch. "Don't hurt yourself."

"I'll try," Melissa laughed. "No guarantees." She leaned back on the rock for a moment, staring up at the cloudless blue sky. "It's a nice day." It felt odd to say it; she hadn't said it for a long time, even though the weather had been nice before, but the amicable hiking across the fields with Punk felt nice, especially since they hadn't seen any zombies at all. It almost felt normal.

Punk looked thoughtful. "I suppose it is." He snatched the can opener out of Melissa's hands, muttering that if she wasn't going to use it she should give it back. He searched around in his backpack, dragging out a can of pineapple. "You want to share and save the food?" he asked.

Melissa sat up with a sigh. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Now what the heck am I supposed to eat it with? I don't fancy putting my fingers into a can that has jagged edges. Last thing we need is sliced fingers."

Punk dug through his backpack again, pulling out two metal sporks.

Melissa eyed the pack suspiciously. "What is that, Mary Poppins' bag?"

"I'm the best in the world at packing," Punk said as he started opening the can.

"Obviously," Melissa said with a laugh.

After eating lunch, the two stayed on the rocks for a little longer before starting south again. The sun was now past its zenith, and was slowly sinking towards the horizon, though it wouldn't be dark for quite a while yet; Melissa would venture that it was about one or two in the afternoon.

They hiked for a few hours more, before stopping near the large ditch that they had jumped over last night. Melissa was surprised that it had taken them so long to get back. She figured that the fact that they hadn't run all day had something to do with it. She shivered, the fear from last night returning to her for a moment. She hastily looked around, trying to see if there were any zombies nearby. She found it extremely odd that she hadn't seen any all day, especially since the field had been swarmed with them the night before. _Maybe they're all back at David's camp_, she thought. She hoped again that the Shield had made it out safely.

They ate a quick dinner, wanting to get across the ditch before the sun set. After finishing up, Punk flung their backpacks across the gap, knowing Melissa wouldn't make it with the weight on her back; she'd hardly made it last night. The cans in the bags rattled loudly as they landed. Punk was about to jump when they heard something moving in the copse of trees behind them.

"What was that?" Melissa whispered. She prayed for a wild pig, a skunk, a deer, anything, anything but a zombie.

She didn't get her wish. A zombie stumbled out of the trees, quickly followed by another, and another. Punk didn't stop to count. He leaped across, and then motioned for Melissa to follow. She took a running leap, jumping across. She didn't get the distance she needed, though. She screamed as Punk's fingers passed through her own as he tried to catch her. She fell to the bottom, and while it was no Grand Canyon, it had to be a good seven or eight feet deep. Her legs buckled as she hit the sandy bottom. She saw Punk standing at the top, and saw a look of fear cross his face. "What is it?" she called up as she hurriedly searched for a way back up out of the gorge, or at least a spot where Punk could help lift her out.

"There are zombies on this side too…" she heard him say. He looked down at her, indecision painted clearly on his face. It lingered a moment and then passed.

Melissa watched incredulously as he disappeared from sight. She heard him pick up his backpack, the cans rattling. "Punk!" she screamed.

Randy Orton's words suddenly came back to her, chilling her to the bone. _I want you to be careful around Punk. Call it a gut feeling, survival instinct. He's only in it for himself. If it comes down to you or him, he'll pick himself without even hesitating_. Well, he had hesitated, but only for a moment. He'd left her to die without as much as a goodbye.

She wanted to scream out in frustration again, but didn't, knowing that it would just attract the zombies. And she knew that they would have no reservations about falling straight down in here with her.

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, a zombie came tumbling down from the side she had jumped from. She hoped desperately that the ones on the other side would be occupied with Punk. The zombie stumbled up to its feet, and Melissa quickly pulled out the knife from the sheath on her side. She was silently grateful that she hadn't been carrying them in her backpack, because otherwise she'd be completely defenseless. She balanced the knife in her hand before she quickly darted forward, burying the knife in the zombie's head. She yanked it out as it fell down, lifeless. As it did so, two zombies fell down into the gorge.

"It's okay, just like Call of Duty," she muttered to herself. "Past round one, onto round two." She tried to control her hysterical laughter. She wondered for a moment if she was going to die. At this point it seemed likely; she was stuck down in a very deep ditch with no apparent way out, and the zombies were likely going to keep falling in.

She dashed forward again, instinct helping guide the knife straight to the skull of one of the zombies. Luckily they were a good distance apart, so she didn't have to worry about the other biting her. After she yanked the knife out, she ducked behind a rock. It seemed like the second zombie hadn't seen her yet. She heard the moaning coming closer. She peeked out from behind the rock, almost screaming in fear as she realized it was directly next to her. She swung wildly, the blade missing its mark for the first time. It cut through the stringy hair of the dead woman in front of her. The zombie lunged forward and Melissa stumbled backwards, a squeak of pain leaving her despite her wishes as she landed on her wrist wrong. She fought back against the sharp pain, scrambling to her feet. She didn't think it was broken, and luckily it wasn't her dominant hand.

The zombie had come rushing forward, barreling after Melissa. Melissa swung again, and this time did not miss. She buried the knife hilt-deep in the zombie's head, yanking it out with a nasty squelch as the body sagged towards the ground.

Melissa sank down to the ground, pressing up against the rock again. Her breathing was labored, and she tried to slow it, wondering if a zombie could hear it.

As another two zombies fell in, she decided she should stop thinking, because every time she did, it seemed like more zombies decided to join her down at the bottom of the gorge.

Melissa looked down at the knife in her hand, the blade glowing red in the light of the setting sun. She wondered if it could hold up much longer; it wasn't designed to stab zombies in the head, after all. Ignoring the two zombies for a moment, Melissa looked up to see the zombies at the top of the gorge getting restless; it probably wasn't going to be long before more ended up down with her.

Melissa was about to go deal with the two currently moving around a few yards away from her. She silently crept forward, seeing that she had the stealth advantage, if nothing else.

Hearing a thud, she looked back behind her, seeing another two zombies hitting the floor of the gorge. The numbers were quickly piling up against her. She sunk down to sit between two rocks, where she hoped neither set of zombies would be able to see her. She held the knife in her hands, trying to figure out the best strategy for getting the numbers back down. Peeking out again, she saw more zombies falling in. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Melissa wanted to scream, but she whispered it to herself instead. There was no way she was going to survive with just knifing the zombies. She glanced down at the pistol she had holstered at her side. She sheathed the knife and slowly removed the gun from the holster. She held it in shaking hands, trying to think back to the way her father had checked them; he'd been a police officer, so he had handled a pistol quite a bit. She wished in hindsight that she'd taken him up on at least one of the offers to go to the shooting range. She struggled to remember, but managed to find the safety and set it to off. It would be a serious mistake to try and shoot a zombie with the safety on. It was probably a serious mistake to use the gun, but Melissa knew it wouldn't be long before she would be found and killed anyway. "Might as well go out guns blazing," she muttered. She gazed down at the gun; she wasn't sure what model or type of gun it was, so she had no idea how many times it would fire before it ran out. And even if she did, she didn't know if David had used the gun at all; knowing her luck the damn thing was empty and as she peeked out from behind the rocks, she realized she didn't have time to check. The zombies had apparently heard her loud breathing and were now rushing towards her hiding place.

Melissa peeked out from behind the rock again, trying to recall her father's advice about shooting. She prayed that she wouldn't miss, and pulled the trigger.


	22. Chapter 22

Melissa wanted to cover her ears again as the gun went off, the sound ricocheting of the walls of the gorge. She watched in shock as two of the zombies went down; apparently she'd gotten in an extremely lucky shot and taken down two with one bullet.

The sound, as she had known it would, attracted the zombies from just about everywhere around her. She aimed again, and shot, taking down another zombie. She wondered whether it would be best to get out of the spot between the two rocks or try to use them as a defensive wall.

Melissa didn't get to decide, as zombies from both end of the gorge immediately rushed her spot. She tried to control the growing panic; she'd always been a flight-instead-of-fight type of girl. She took aim and fired, and another zombie fell to her bullet.

There wasn't going to be enough bullets, she knew. She was going to run out long before she managed to make a dent in the horde. Her vision was going blurry, and she realized that she was crying. She didn't want to die. She had always had a false bravado about it, bragging that she wasn't afraid to die, but now that she was staring death in the face, she realized she was terrified.

She knew she couldn't stop shooting though, just in case. _Maybe Punk will come back…_

She knew he wouldn't though. The expression on his face had been a "So long, nice knowing you" sort of look.

The sobs racking her body now, she took aim again, trying to blink past the tears. The bullet tore through another two zombies, but Melissa knew it was only because so many of them had fallen in and crowded into the narrow space.

_I'm lucky one hasn't fallen on my head, if nothing else…_

Melissa wondered how many bullets she had left, and whether she should just end it now. She figured it would probably be more quick and painless compared to being eaten alive.

The dead zombies were luckily bottlenecking the opening to her rock hideout, giving her a brief respite. She stared at the gun again, once more trying to calculate her odds of escaping alive. They weren't looking good.

She had just made up her mind when a sound shattered her concentration. The sound of a gun going off sounded from above her. "PUNK?!" she screamed.

"Melissa!?" A voice shouted back.

Melissa gasped in surprise as she looked up and in the last bits of daylight she recognized Dean and Seth leaning over the edge, looking down at her.

A wave of utter relief rushed over her, making her feel almost nauseated.

"Jump!" Seth called, motioning that he and Dean would catch her. Melissa hastily holstered the gun, her hands shaking. She gazed upward, wondering if she could make the jump to where they would grab her and pull her up. Looking behind her, she realized she would have one try.

Melissa breathed deeply, and jumped upwards, her arms outstretched to where Dean and Seth waited.

They caught her by her wrists, and she wanted to scream in pain as it yanked on her bad wrist. They pulled her up just as the zombies made it past the block of the bodies. Melissa was sobbing again, this time in relief, and as soon as she was resting on solid ground, she crashed forward and hugged Seth, who was nearest.

"It's okay," he murmured. "You're not down there anymore."

"I thought you were dead!" Melissa sobbed.

"We will be if we don't get moving," Dean noted, reminding them they were still in danger from zombies on this side of the gorge.

Seth helped Melissa to her feet. "My backpack…" she muttered.

"Roman has it," Seth pointed to the Samoan who was standing nearby, wearing her backpack and holding a gun. Melissa felt guilty she hadn't noticed him yet, but she pushed the thought away, knowing now wasn't the time to worry about that.

"Let's go!" Dean said, leading them away from the gorge, back in the direction of David's camp.

Melissa found herself running from zombies in the dark for the second night in a row, this time following the Shield instead of Punk.

Luckily it wasn't too far from there to get back to the camp; Melissa realized that her fear last night had severely distorted the distance. She also realized that they were catching another lucky break when she realized that most of the zombies were headed in the direction of the gorge, still focused on the sound the guns had made. She was glad they were so single-minded and she was glad that Dean seemed to be choosing a path that kept them out sight of the zombies.

Before long, Dean had them stop in a small group of trees on a hill. Melissa realized she was looking down at the valley where David's camp had been only the night before. It was still smoking; the fire had burned it to the ground. Zombies could be seen in the silver moonlight shuffling through the ashes.

Melissa was gasping for air, much in the same way she had been last night. She decided that she was not meant for cross-country running. Luckily it didn't take her too long to catch her breath as the Shield surveyed the area.

"What are we going to do?" Melissa whispered after a little.

Dean looked at her. "Can you run farther?"

Melissa nodded, surprised he was asking.

"Then we have to two options: go for the car, or look for Punk, if he's alive," Dean said.

"We go to the car," Melissa said, her anger at Punk suddenly bubbling up.

Dean looked startled. "Why don't you want to look for Punk? There's a chance he's still alive." He obviously didn't realize that Melissa and Punk had fled the camp together.

"I hope not. I hope he's dead." Melissa said harshly, surprised by the vicious tone of her voice.

Now Dean frowned. "Did we find Melissa's evil twin?" he said half-jokingly to Roman and Seth.

Seth looked concerned and moved to sit in front of Melissa, who was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed.

"Melissa, what happened?" he asked her gently.

"Last night Punk and I escaped from David, and so we ran and found a place to stay for the night. We left this morning to head back to the car. Not long before you found me, we got ambushed by some zombies. He made it across the gap, but I didn't. I was about to have him help lift me out when he said there were zombies on his side too. He left me to die."

Seth looked shocked, as if he had expected better of Punk. "He just left you? He didn't even try to help?"

Melissa shook her head. "Not even close." She wondered if she could really fault him though. Would she have done the same thing?

"There were hardly any zombies on that side of the gap when we got there," Roman muttered. "We were able to get there without a lot of effort."

Melissa shrugged uncomfortably. "Randy tried to warn me."

"What?" Seth asked curiously.

"Randy tried to warn me. Before he left he told me to stay away from Punk, and that he would only save himself if it came down to it," Melissa whispered.

"Randy's smarter than I gave him credit for," Dean muttered. He looked out from behind the protection the bushes. "So we'll head for the car then. One less back-stabber to deal with."

Melissa felt a wave of guilt crash over her. Despite her anger at Punk, it still felt wrong to leave the man to die. She pushed the thought away, knowing that he had done it to her without a thought.

Dean sank down to the ground, crossing his legs as he sat. "We're going to have to wait a little. The zombies are leaving, but it's gonna be a while. So Melissa, where'd you get the gun? We probably wouldn't have found you if you hadn't used it."

Melissa felt even guiltier as she remembered the events that had occurred last night in David's camp.

"Melissa?" Seth asked cautiously. "Remember that you can tell us."

Melissa looked up to meet his gaze, remembering how he had told her it wasn't healthy to keep secrets. She took a deep breath before recounting the story of last night.


End file.
